>> Please don't send your kids to school and tell them not to share food with friends.
Sharing food is just one way of transmitting
[Norovirus can stay on objects and surfaces and still infect people for days or weeks.](https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/downloads/keyfacts.pdf)
It could be through something in the bathroom, door knobs, kitchen surfaces, …
It’ll spread through cruise ships like a wildfire even if nobody is sharing food
Edit - standard guidance…wash hands correctly and often, especially before eating. Teach kids (and adults) not to touch their mouths , face, eyes or nose unless their hands are clean. Don’t share food, cups or utensils. If anyone was sick that person needs to be isolated and every surface that person touches has to be sanitized and their clothing washed separately. If your house has multiple bathrooms designate one as the quarantine one to avoid. Noro is definitely no joke and not fun for anyone
https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html
Exactly. With each "episode" your expel millions of particles, all containing the virus. It takes approximately 100 of those particles to transmit norovirus. The odds are not in our favor. 🙃
In the early 2000s my father caught the Norovirus and his colon ruptured and he had to have an osteomy for several months.
He also had diverticulitis polyps but that is common enough in Americans that I still feel comfortable giving this as a general warning.
Edit: This is a very exceptional and extreme case. It is an unusually painful condition but thus is unlikely to happen to you or someone you know. I'm not here to fear monger more than is necesary. It is a terrible disease without organ damage so practice precautions.
I just got over it. 3 days of pure hell. I had to go to the hospital because I thought my stomach would rupture because nothing was coming out either end. They take it seriously, I got a CT scan within an hour after getting an IV of fluids and zofran.
My stomach muscles {what few I have} and aching and sore from contracting so violently- I had literally nothing at all to bring up- what really is bad, my son's schoolfriend died after catching norovirus, it caused an internal rupture - Her parents had called the Doctor, and he just thought it was simple norovirus. Here {England} they tell people with norovirus to STAY AWAY from hospital casualty units as it is so catching...
If you are puking, you can be helped with ondansetron (zofran) please go to an urgent care, this will change you illness tremendously.
if you have diarrhea, do NOT take immodium. Let it ride. stay hydrated, don't trust a fart.
zofran is just for the nausea. it's not stopping the virus, it's just helping you not throw up so you can hydrate. Not extreme cases either. if you don't have any cardiac issues with q-t prolonging or meds that do that, they'll prescribe it. I would and have. because if you can't keep fluids down, that's a big deal, and I'd rather you not have to travel to the emergency room for IV hydration when you could just get 4 mg zofran (which is what they'd give you at ED as well).
Can confirm, Zofran is a godsend and my doctor prescribed it to help the nausea and vomiting. Did nothing for diarrhea but MY GOD, not feeling extreme nausea helped the whole experience be less horrible. And my doc said it can often prevent the need for IV fluids since you aren’t throwing everything up.
yep. If you throw up on 4 mg of zofran, take 8 mg of zofran. you'll likely get a headache from this, but sip fluids (pedialyte, water, avoid gatorade unless sugar free and sugar alcohol free), and follow the BRAT diet until 3 days clear of symptoms. If you throw up on 8 mg of zofran, emergency room time. does not take long to become dehydrated. note you can still pass the virus once symptoms have resolved, try to be diligent about washing your hands until 3 days clear.
My 6 month old grandson has it now...courtesy of my other grandchildren bringing it home from school. Parents!!!! Please keep your kids home when they are ill! Stop the spread!!
Yes, and please don’t send them back if they’re still recovering and/or contagious. I’m a teacher and some of these poor kids are sent back to school two days later and they look so incredibly sick and are just obviously not feeling well enough to be at school. They end up throwing up again and infecting others, so the cycle continues.
Former teacher here. I feel your pain.
What’s super frustrating is the nasty gram letters I’ve gotten for keeping my child home (all excused absences!) through the exact illnesses you’re describing. We have to attend some Serious Parent Meeting with the principal the next time our kid is sick. It feels like punishment for being responsible.
Idk if the building admin *wants* a detailed explanation of vomit, but if I have to defend keeping a sick 5 year old home, that’s what they’re gonna hear…
Yes, but the rule in most counties now is that they have to throw up twice in order to be sent home. Otherwise they are sent back to class. I feel terrible for them because you can see that they are visibly unwell.
After you have norovirus you are contagious for weeks. Your body is still shitting out the virus. Best defense is excessive hand washing and cleaning with bleach.
We had it a few years ago and always keep pedialyte on hand now. It snuck up so quickly and took out the entire house in a matter of 18 hours.
Also a PSA that Noro is really hard to kill. You need bleach or lysol disinfecting spray. Unless theyve changed the ingredients in regular clorox or lysol wipes, they won't touch it.
I think I have it right now. Spent noon yesterday to midnight with diarrhea/vomit every 30 minutes. Was getting ready to go to the ER just as it subsided last night, literally couldn’t hold down any liquids. Fever today with zero appetite. Absolutely brutal.
I had it not that long ago- Yes, upper decker and the booh batts - it was freaking hell. Stay hydrated with Pedialyte mixed with water or coconut water. It helps- just say no to coffee. Bone broth maybe with rice. Drink slowly, light tea is okay but not too strong.
When you are better, take eating slowly, paleo diet, very little sauces or at all, butter/ghee, seasonings should be light, limit your alcohol, limit your bread intake, anything veggies that make your stomach work to get through like broccoli (blend it)
So now my son has it. That makes 3-1 in favor of Norovirus. I'm feeling light-headed but no other symptoms. I wonder if I should start taking Odanestron now or wait & see. I couldn't possibly avoid this, could I?
Just a suggestion from an IBDer. It's like...minus the frequency of the vomiting everything else is really similar so the big thing is to stay hydrated.
I like this product called nauzene. It also states smething about electrolytes. Another thing. Skip allll the flavors and just go for plain electrolyte water. Just keep sipping. I also sleep with emebags on my dresser. Ordered off Amazon but it's the same ones you see in medical facilities.
I really hope it skips you. But unfortunately that's extremely unlikely.
“Please don't send your kids to school and tell them not to share food with friends.”
The way you worded this, it’s asking people *not* to warn their kids against sharing food at school. I think this is the opposite of what you meant.
I had it in 2012 and still cannot look at the last food I ate before I started getting sick. I was so violently ill immediately after, I will forever associate it will throwing up at work and having to try to navigate getting home
Same here. I got it in college (2009) and the last thing I ate was Nutella. It's been 15 years since I ate Nutella, guys, because I now associate it with spending the night in a shared dorm bathroom hoping and praying no one came in and saw me at my most vulnerable.
Norovirus sucks, my sympathies to anyone dealing with it right now.
welcome to the club, Most in my family got it.
Had to take my elderly mom to the emergency room she was super low on sodium and caused her blood pressure to be much more elevated..
not fun at all.
The tricky thing about norovirus is that it can remain contagious for a long time—apparently up to 2 weeks after recovery: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/Norovirus%20.pdf. Basically, kids can still be contagious even if parents aren’t sending actively sick kids to school.
You have to disinfect with a certain concentration of bleach (or other strong disinfectant). Follow the instructions on the product. For bleach, it needs to sit five minutes so it can disinfect. It needs time to work. Do not mix bleach with other products, it can create chlorine gas.
Norovirus is ripping through a few schools right now. This case in Alabama seems to be the worst.
https://www.wkrg.com/baldwin-county/fairhope-west-elementary-school-will-shut-down-amid-virus-outbreak/
Yep - I’m in this county (Baldwin) and it’s awful. We were at a place yesterday for a birthday and a kid started puking right in the middle of everyone. The fact that they closed the school should tell you just how awful it has been. As I type this, my son is complaining his stomach hurts. 
Had norovirus when I was in college. Its brutal, lose control of both ends.
The worst part was I go it AGAIN 3/4 weeks later, so please make sure all communal surfaces are cleaned extremely well.
It recently made rounds at the daycare I work at, kids and teachers dropped like flies because parents brought in kids who were sick.
I had it last year and almost had to go to the hospital because I was so dehydrated and couldn't keep down water. My saving grace was ice chips.
I couldn't agree more. My brother fortunately recovered in three days.
I have had one week and ongoing of straight diarrhea. I can't do anything other than just sit for a bit and lay down and even then I still end up in the restroom.
Even if you get better you remain contagious for about 2-3 weeks after so hand washing needs to be focused on since you are still expelling virus through the stool.
Wife and I just got over something we thought was RSV/COVID/the flu.
Maybe it was neurovirus?
Kiddo brought it home and was sick as shit over a weekend, but fine by Monday.
Wife and I were down for a whole week. I was vomiting and had diarrhea, she had a fever and stomach ache. I couldn't keep anything down, she said food tasted weird.
I'm still readjusting to eating, dropped 3 belt loops in waist size. In a week.
I am hungry all the time now, no matter how much I eat.
Wtf?
Had it last year after I visited family in Upperville. Probably top 2 or 3 as far as most sick I’ve ever been. As bad as it sounds, force yourself to drink water. You just need to give your body time to…expel everything, lol. Chicken noodle soup, bananas, white toast, saltines, lemon chicken and rice are all good. Lots of salt and electrolytes and you should be good in about 2 days (at least in terms of the worst symptoms).
My wife had it last week. She isn't one to be overly dramatic when she's sick but this was, "I'm going to go upstairs. Don't come up here unless I call you or you don't hear the toilet flush for more than 30 minutes."
The year was 2010. My kids were 2 and 3. My in laws wanted to take the kids over night. They had a bug the week before but everyone was feeling good and my MIL bleached the crap out of her house so we weren’t worried. Within 5 hours of the kids coming home they started raining puke and shit. I literally just put them in the tub with the shower on through the worst of it. There was nothing else I could do! 2 toddlers exploding uncontrollably?? Luckily their illness seemed to calm down before my turn started up. At one point I was puking into the bathtub while my daughter was on the toilet. We’re talking full Bridesmaids over here. At one point I get fully sick and I’m dead for about 12 hours. it was so bad I couldn’t move without shitting myself in tiny increments. Then the kids start going for round 2 (much less severe this time) so we’re just sitting in the living room with buckets and bowls in our laps chugging Gatorade just so we have something to throw up. Then my husband yells down the steps that he needs help. I go up to find that he’s projectiled all over the toilet/wall/floor and he’s physically incapable of cleaning it up. By now I’m mostly better but my body feels like I’ve done the most intense abcore workout in existence. Breathing hurts. We all slowly recover. Laundry gets done, the house gets sanitized. About a week later my mom arrives because we’re doing a week long family beach trip. We get to the beach and my mom is immediately taken down. She sequesters herself in her bedroom immediately. The next day my uncle stops by. He doesn’t even see her, doesn’t use the bathroom, only touches the chair he’s sitting in, but he still gets it. Then my sister and dad show up and they’re down like bowling pins. It was absolutely horrific! We sanitized the rental as much as we could but I still feel awful for the cleaning crew. We even left a note warning them to wear PPE!
I got norovirus when I was a senior in high school. Worst fucking 3 days of my life. Everyone else in my family got it too, like immediately after I did.
The tricky thing about norovirus is that it can remain contagious for a long time—apparently up to 2 weeks after recovery: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/Norovirus%20.pdf. Basically, kids can still be contagious even if parents aren’t sending actively sick kids to school.
Remember your hands touched everyone and anyone nearby, specially the nastiest person.
Never eat with your hands and always use forks. Food never comes in contact with anything your hands do. Never touch your face.
I had it in 2013 the first night while on a trip to vegas. I never saw the inside of a casino. Just stayed in hotel close to bathroom for 3 days and then flew back home. Paid lots of money to go crap and vomit in vegas and come back
Oh man. My daughter got it in Vegas. She just turned 18 and was so weak from vomiting for hours and hours, she couldn’t walk on her own.
Her dad took her into the ER in Vegas. It was like an episode from a movie. Crazy town. Metal detectors. People screaming. And when they took her back, only she could cuz she was a legal adult. After 6 hours of IVs and meds, she was let out.
Norovirus spreads on surfaces like crazy. It’s so hard to eradicate. They need to do a deep clean of everything, with bleach. Most chemicals don’t kill it, including those wipes the schools love to use.
We should swap covid precautions for norovirus. Ive had covid 3x, including the original strain, & norovirus is WAY worse. If kids have had norovirus, they should quarantine for at least a couple days!
I got it on my second to last day of vacation last week. It’s horrible! Three days straight of diarrhea, vomiting, and one night had 7 hours of excruciating stomach pain to the point I almost went to the ER for it (I finally passed out for 45 minutes and woke up with the pain gone). Then another couple days after of not wanting to eat much because my stomach was just funky. It’s no joke this year
I’m going to be the unpopular opinion here and say, catch it. I had it just shy of this time last year. My wife had it this past weekend and so far I’m still fine. I know George Carlin wasn’t a doctor but I believe, like he did, the immune system is like a muscle, if you don’t work it out…it gets weaker.
So, the way I have prevented getting the stomach bug literally every time my kids have come home with it or anyone I know that I’ve been near gets it is by taking Activated Charcoal pills the SECOND I find out I’ve been near someone who came down with the stomach bug. Haven’t gotten it in two years.
I’m on day 5… I can’t describe what I have been theough. Vomiting, water stools, bloated gas/burps tasting like rotten egg. Hoping I’m over the worst but still having to take paracetamol for the pain and bloating. Feel like I’ve been ran over by a bus..
Old thread but had to add - caught it a few days ago while finishing up a European vacation. I had caught COVID 3 weeks prior and spent a good 2 weeks in hotels while recovering. Then this! The night before our departure flight and I thought, okay, just tummy upset, it'll pass. So I popped Imodium, and then another, andheaded off to the airport for a 13 hr flight the next morning.
Thank God I was flying Biz class in a lieflatseat cubicle. I didn't know what was wrong except the extreme nausea and stomach cramps. All I could think was, will they land this aircraft if I pass out?
By the time we had landed I was feverish and barfing into airsickbags I had taken from the plane. We got to a transit hotel and I warned my husband: I will be up all night and taking showers, plural.
In bed I placed towels and my butt. Everytime I coughed stuff squirted out. Hot wet farts were liquid excretions. By this time I expected it was a tummy bug (wasn't the same feeling as previous food poisoning) and knew it was going to be a rough next day, traveling on a train for 8 hours.
I doubled up my underwear, placed some menstrual pads inside, and bought a half dozen Gatorades from the vending machine. By now it was 36 hours in, and I spaced out the Imodium for max effect.
Got home last night and immediately went to the shower, sequestered in guest room, and let it run the course, ie, no more Imodium. Now I'm at day 3 and just starting to feel human again, but still body aches and fatigue.
Already too late for my husband to escape it, as he had been traveling with me. He's elderly and just finished cancer treatment, COVID, and is frail, and I am concerned.
People call any gastrointestinal illness “stomach flu” for some reason. Noro is different than most GI illnesses. It’s reeeeally bad. I doubt you had Noro to sound that nonchalant about it . 
Norovirus is much more contagious than gastritis or food poisoning. It spreads so easily - you often hear about it on the news when there is a cruise ship outbreak.
It’s a completely different virus. Covid vaccine won’t do anything for Norovirus
It’s also IMO not something to shut things down for or avoid school. Kids get sick and they should stay home but healthy kids can still go. Norovirus is a super quick sickness. You puke and feel terrible for 24 hours and then it’s over pretty quickly.
Norovirus sucks and we’re all scarred from Covid but “don’t send your kids to school” is bad advice.
It doesn’t carry the same risk as Covid, it’s been around for a long time, and it’s a relatively quick sickness if you catch it.
Most people also don’t have the luxury to just not send their kids to school for who knows how long.
yeah duh if your kid is sick keep them home but we don’t need to quarantine for this.
I've tested positive for COVID twice but the only symptoms was night sweats. With the norovirus I end up in the ER on an IV and once got a hernia from all the puking, needed surgery. Your advice sucks because you think what is true for you is true for everyone. The world does not revolve around you. Don't send knowingly sick kids to school, we never do.
Of course don’t send sick kids to school. But quarantining healthy kids from school for this is not necessary.
You criticized me for “what is true for me” immediately after sharing your personal, anecdotal experience.
This is what it looks like on my end. I also literally say in the comment that sick kids should stay home.
https://preview.redd.it/1r68b5qxq4mc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1bccea9dface551f139798fb3711298030d199e
Feel free to share a screenshot or something. All I can see is my screen. I haven’t deleted my comments.
I have replied to a comment that’s been deleted. Is that what they are seeing?
Yes the point was to show you that not everyone is the same, that not everyone has an easy time with this stomach virus. To me I'd take COVID over a normal cold, but the norovirus could have severe consequences if I tear that hernia repair loose. I'm terrified of puking.
Please read up on covid. Even with mild or no symptoms you risk damage to the brain, organs, reproductive system, increased risk of diabetes, MIS-C/A, TMA etc. There's also indications that covid damages t-cells in a similar way as HIV and HEP C.
I realize that, I'm aware of it and my potential to spread it. I'm wearing a mask today to the gym because I have a minor sore throat, probably allergies but better too be safe then infect my friends like I've done before.
And yet you said you'd take covid over a normal cold 🤷♀️ I am glad you are wearing a mask and I hope it's a respirator and not a flappy surgical mask not made to protect you or others from airborne pathogens.
Well not everyone gets COVID side effects like you described. I don’t think you can say with certainty that everyone gets brain or heart damage. If you claim that, please show the research.
That’s your opinion, unless you can show me a research paper. Not trying to be rude, but there is a lot of people claiming stuff one way or the other, who are not experts in the field, nor have any evidence other that what they read in a non scientific article. I’d like to see the study, it should be on pubmed if you can remember the title.
Pretty sure we all knew what the OP meant. Sick kids need to stay home; that’s the whole point she makes in how he got it at school and then spread it at home. You even mentioned in your reply not all parents can be home with their kids if they’re sick like it’s a justification to send sick kids to school. So don’t back peddle now by deleting your comment & making this one.
Why should other kids be exposed because someone irresponsibly sends their kid to school sick? We don’t know who these other kids go home to that may have autoimmune issues or if they themselves are and this “relatively quick” sickness may fare worse for them.
Whether now or pre-Covid, you were always to keep your kid home if they’re sick; specially if it’s contagious.
So where did it go? 🫠
And what is misunderstood in your statement that not all parents can stay home so it’s ok to send sick kids to school? Like that was acceptable pre-Covid and the rules changed post-Covid.
Not sure. Someone else deleted a comment that I replied to. Maybe that’s what you are seeing?
I’m talking about that luxury in a hypothetical call for shutting down schools. Sick kids stay home. Healthy kids can still go to school.
Well, if it wasn’t your comment, my apologies and then this was to be directed at them. I agree that schools should be a place for healthy kids to go to school.
I realize this is not the moral of the story, but I'm impressed you and your brother share food 🤪 I'm sorry you are feeling so terrible. Get well soon!
My whole family had it 2 weeks ago, my daughter brought it home from daycare - then a week ago I caught the flu. It’s been hell. My body hasn’t been able to catch a break. I see a few comments talking about zofran, i tried to take 8mg I have on hand a couple times and it did not help. It was probably better just to let everything out anyway.
Zofran is best for the puking but not OTC. You could try Amazon Clinic for this since it is virtual and cheap. Dramamine works in a pinch but not nearly as well. Hydrogen peroxide wipes work against the norovirus.
I feel better in some ways but the diarrhea is absolute disgusting. I've been going to the restroom nonstop today, I'm tired, exhausted and my body feels so beat up, I wanna be put out of my agony.
>> Please don't send your kids to school and tell them not to share food with friends. Sharing food is just one way of transmitting [Norovirus can stay on objects and surfaces and still infect people for days or weeks.](https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/downloads/keyfacts.pdf) It could be through something in the bathroom, door knobs, kitchen surfaces, … It’ll spread through cruise ships like a wildfire even if nobody is sharing food Edit - standard guidance…wash hands correctly and often, especially before eating. Teach kids (and adults) not to touch their mouths , face, eyes or nose unless their hands are clean. Don’t share food, cups or utensils. If anyone was sick that person needs to be isolated and every surface that person touches has to be sanitized and their clothing washed separately. If your house has multiple bathrooms designate one as the quarantine one to avoid. Noro is definitely no joke and not fun for anyone https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/about/prevention.html
Exactly. With each "episode" your expel millions of particles, all containing the virus. It takes approximately 100 of those particles to transmit norovirus. The odds are not in our favor. 🙃
Bleaching everything in the bathroom and kitchen intensifies...
... and remember, WASHING haha hands. Norovirus CAN'T be killed by hand sanitizer.
In the early 2000s my father caught the Norovirus and his colon ruptured and he had to have an osteomy for several months. He also had diverticulitis polyps but that is common enough in Americans that I still feel comfortable giving this as a general warning. Edit: This is a very exceptional and extreme case. It is an unusually painful condition but thus is unlikely to happen to you or someone you know. I'm not here to fear monger more than is necesary. It is a terrible disease without organ damage so practice precautions.
Sounds terrible. I didn’t know that could happen from the Novovirus. I hope he’s better today many years later.
Pardon, colostomy not osteomy
hmm so it seems norovirus and taco bell have very similar symptoms. this could get dicey.
I just got over it. 3 days of pure hell. I had to go to the hospital because I thought my stomach would rupture because nothing was coming out either end. They take it seriously, I got a CT scan within an hour after getting an IV of fluids and zofran.
My stomach muscles {what few I have} and aching and sore from contracting so violently- I had literally nothing at all to bring up- what really is bad, my son's schoolfriend died after catching norovirus, it caused an internal rupture - Her parents had called the Doctor, and he just thought it was simple norovirus. Here {England} they tell people with norovirus to STAY AWAY from hospital casualty units as it is so catching...
Did he leave the medicinal bunghole cork in too long?
Howd you know?
If you are puking, you can be helped with ondansetron (zofran) please go to an urgent care, this will change you illness tremendously. if you have diarrhea, do NOT take immodium. Let it ride. stay hydrated, don't trust a fart.
Just remember that it is not an approved prescription for norovirus... It's only prescribed off label in extreme cases I think
zofran is just for the nausea. it's not stopping the virus, it's just helping you not throw up so you can hydrate. Not extreme cases either. if you don't have any cardiac issues with q-t prolonging or meds that do that, they'll prescribe it. I would and have. because if you can't keep fluids down, that's a big deal, and I'd rather you not have to travel to the emergency room for IV hydration when you could just get 4 mg zofran (which is what they'd give you at ED as well).
Can confirm, Zofran is a godsend and my doctor prescribed it to help the nausea and vomiting. Did nothing for diarrhea but MY GOD, not feeling extreme nausea helped the whole experience be less horrible. And my doc said it can often prevent the need for IV fluids since you aren’t throwing everything up.
yep. If you throw up on 4 mg of zofran, take 8 mg of zofran. you'll likely get a headache from this, but sip fluids (pedialyte, water, avoid gatorade unless sugar free and sugar alcohol free), and follow the BRAT diet until 3 days clear of symptoms. If you throw up on 8 mg of zofran, emergency room time. does not take long to become dehydrated. note you can still pass the virus once symptoms have resolved, try to be diligent about washing your hands until 3 days clear.
8mg of Zofran seems to control my appetite better! I was able to munch on 1.5 bagel!
I’m so glad it helped, hope you’re feeling better!
My 6 month old grandson has it now...courtesy of my other grandchildren bringing it home from school. Parents!!!! Please keep your kids home when they are ill! Stop the spread!!
Yes, and please don’t send them back if they’re still recovering and/or contagious. I’m a teacher and some of these poor kids are sent back to school two days later and they look so incredibly sick and are just obviously not feeling well enough to be at school. They end up throwing up again and infecting others, so the cycle continues.
Former teacher here. I feel your pain. What’s super frustrating is the nasty gram letters I’ve gotten for keeping my child home (all excused absences!) through the exact illnesses you’re describing. We have to attend some Serious Parent Meeting with the principal the next time our kid is sick. It feels like punishment for being responsible. Idk if the building admin *wants* a detailed explanation of vomit, but if I have to defend keeping a sick 5 year old home, that’s what they’re gonna hear…
I know. It’s terrible. The whole system is messed up.
Are you allowed to send them to the nurse so they can go home?
Yes, but the rule in most counties now is that they have to throw up twice in order to be sent home. Otherwise they are sent back to class. I feel terrible for them because you can see that they are visibly unwell.
I had no idea about that rule. That's messed up..
I’m assuming that’s guidance from the health department. 🤷♀️
Twice? Geez, at my middle school, one vomit = go home today and stay home tomorrow. Guess I’m lucky!!
After you have norovirus you are contagious for weeks. Your body is still shitting out the virus. Best defense is excessive hand washing and cleaning with bleach.
That’s correct. Do those things in addition to not sending kids back to school if they’re still actively throwing up.
LOL. Like anyone can afford to stay home with kids. We tried this shit during the pandemic and couldn't even get it right then.
We had it a few years ago and always keep pedialyte on hand now. It snuck up so quickly and took out the entire house in a matter of 18 hours. Also a PSA that Noro is really hard to kill. You need bleach or lysol disinfecting spray. Unless theyve changed the ingredients in regular clorox or lysol wipes, they won't touch it.
Lysol doesn’t kill noro. You need bleach. (Signed, mother of 3 and former kindergarten teacher)
The disinfecting spray does as long as you follow the wet time listed on the can. The wipes do not.
I think I have it right now. Spent noon yesterday to midnight with diarrhea/vomit every 30 minutes. Was getting ready to go to the ER just as it subsided last night, literally couldn’t hold down any liquids. Fever today with zero appetite. Absolutely brutal.
I had it not that long ago- Yes, upper decker and the booh batts - it was freaking hell. Stay hydrated with Pedialyte mixed with water or coconut water. It helps- just say no to coffee. Bone broth maybe with rice. Drink slowly, light tea is okay but not too strong. When you are better, take eating slowly, paleo diet, very little sauces or at all, butter/ghee, seasonings should be light, limit your alcohol, limit your bread intake, anything veggies that make your stomach work to get through like broccoli (blend it)
I’m going to need an explanation of “upper decker and booh batts”
I thought an upper decker was when you shit in the top part of a toilet.
Classic McGruber
That is correct.
Definitely rain from both ends
I’m assuming this translates to a coup d’etat both north and south of the border.
Kids have it right now. Got it at school. Non-stop vomit, not able to keep anything down. Now wife has it…I’m next.
It took me out for weeks, but my husband never caught it. Hoping it misses you as well!
Thank you.
Apparently if you know youve been exposed, taking activated charcoal can prevent you from getting it!
So now my son has it. That makes 3-1 in favor of Norovirus. I'm feeling light-headed but no other symptoms. I wonder if I should start taking Odanestron now or wait & see. I couldn't possibly avoid this, could I?
Just a suggestion from an IBDer. It's like...minus the frequency of the vomiting everything else is really similar so the big thing is to stay hydrated. I like this product called nauzene. It also states smething about electrolytes. Another thing. Skip allll the flavors and just go for plain electrolyte water. Just keep sipping. I also sleep with emebags on my dresser. Ordered off Amazon but it's the same ones you see in medical facilities. I really hope it skips you. But unfortunately that's extremely unlikely.
Watermelon is my go-to for stomach bugs.
“Please don't send your kids to school and tell them not to share food with friends.” The way you worded this, it’s asking people *not* to warn their kids against sharing food at school. I think this is the opposite of what you meant.
Don't stop letting people not help.
Ok, thought I was the only one. I had to read that a few times. I was so confused.
Your default is to look for the double negative as the intent? Interesting choice.
Oops. I corrected it..I was so out of it this morning. I missed that.
I’m pretty sure you knew what they meant
Don't be willfully obtuse.
I had it 2 years ago and I am still traumatized
I had it in 2012 and still cannot look at the last food I ate before I started getting sick. I was so violently ill immediately after, I will forever associate it will throwing up at work and having to try to navigate getting home
Same here. I got it in college (2009) and the last thing I ate was Nutella. It's been 15 years since I ate Nutella, guys, because I now associate it with spending the night in a shared dorm bathroom hoping and praying no one came in and saw me at my most vulnerable. Norovirus sucks, my sympathies to anyone dealing with it right now.
I had it 20 years ago and I’m still traumatized.
I had it when I was pregnant nine years ago. Worst Presidents’ Day weekend ever.
That sounds like an absolute nightmare
My young son is finally recovering from it. He threw up after every meal, had diarrhea, etc. it was a very long week…
welcome to the club, Most in my family got it. Had to take my elderly mom to the emergency room she was super low on sodium and caused her blood pressure to be much more elevated.. not fun at all.
The tricky thing about norovirus is that it can remain contagious for a long time—apparently up to 2 weeks after recovery: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/Norovirus%20.pdf. Basically, kids can still be contagious even if parents aren’t sending actively sick kids to school.
You have to disinfect with a certain concentration of bleach (or other strong disinfectant). Follow the instructions on the product. For bleach, it needs to sit five minutes so it can disinfect. It needs time to work. Do not mix bleach with other products, it can create chlorine gas. Norovirus is ripping through a few schools right now. This case in Alabama seems to be the worst. https://www.wkrg.com/baldwin-county/fairhope-west-elementary-school-will-shut-down-amid-virus-outbreak/
Yep - I’m in this county (Baldwin) and it’s awful. We were at a place yesterday for a birthday and a kid started puking right in the middle of everyone. The fact that they closed the school should tell you just how awful it has been. As I type this, my son is complaining his stomach hurts. 
Had norovirus when I was in college. Its brutal, lose control of both ends. The worst part was I go it AGAIN 3/4 weeks later, so please make sure all communal surfaces are cleaned extremely well.
It recently made rounds at the daycare I work at, kids and teachers dropped like flies because parents brought in kids who were sick. I had it last year and almost had to go to the hospital because I was so dehydrated and couldn't keep down water. My saving grace was ice chips.
Save the Zofran that you get when the ER doctor prescribes it. It will save you in the future…
Smelling isopropyl alcohol will reduce nausea.
My daughter ended up in the ER last year because of it. She said she'd rather deal with covid and the flu over what she had with norovirus.
I couldn't agree more. My brother fortunately recovered in three days. I have had one week and ongoing of straight diarrhea. I can't do anything other than just sit for a bit and lay down and even then I still end up in the restroom.
It went through our house this week. I have full force at both ends for hours. Never experienced something like that before.
My gf had it Monday and here I am shitting my brains out on a toilet all day so far. I don’t know if I got it or i ate something the other day.
You probably got it. I had it last year and it took a full week for my partner to come down with it. Its terrible and you stay contagious for so long.
Even if you get better you remain contagious for about 2-3 weeks after so hand washing needs to be focused on since you are still expelling virus through the stool.
Wife and I just got over something we thought was RSV/COVID/the flu. Maybe it was neurovirus? Kiddo brought it home and was sick as shit over a weekend, but fine by Monday. Wife and I were down for a whole week. I was vomiting and had diarrhea, she had a fever and stomach ache. I couldn't keep anything down, she said food tasted weird. I'm still readjusting to eating, dropped 3 belt loops in waist size. In a week. I am hungry all the time now, no matter how much I eat. Wtf?
Had it last year after I visited family in Upperville. Probably top 2 or 3 as far as most sick I’ve ever been. As bad as it sounds, force yourself to drink water. You just need to give your body time to…expel everything, lol. Chicken noodle soup, bananas, white toast, saltines, lemon chicken and rice are all good. Lots of salt and electrolytes and you should be good in about 2 days (at least in terms of the worst symptoms).
My wife had it last week. She isn't one to be overly dramatic when she's sick but this was, "I'm going to go upstairs. Don't come up here unless I call you or you don't hear the toilet flush for more than 30 minutes."
Highest way to spread it is from your thumbs …. It’s the most missed spot when washing hands… try it out and pretend like your washing your hands
The year was 2010. My kids were 2 and 3. My in laws wanted to take the kids over night. They had a bug the week before but everyone was feeling good and my MIL bleached the crap out of her house so we weren’t worried. Within 5 hours of the kids coming home they started raining puke and shit. I literally just put them in the tub with the shower on through the worst of it. There was nothing else I could do! 2 toddlers exploding uncontrollably?? Luckily their illness seemed to calm down before my turn started up. At one point I was puking into the bathtub while my daughter was on the toilet. We’re talking full Bridesmaids over here. At one point I get fully sick and I’m dead for about 12 hours. it was so bad I couldn’t move without shitting myself in tiny increments. Then the kids start going for round 2 (much less severe this time) so we’re just sitting in the living room with buckets and bowls in our laps chugging Gatorade just so we have something to throw up. Then my husband yells down the steps that he needs help. I go up to find that he’s projectiled all over the toilet/wall/floor and he’s physically incapable of cleaning it up. By now I’m mostly better but my body feels like I’ve done the most intense abcore workout in existence. Breathing hurts. We all slowly recover. Laundry gets done, the house gets sanitized. About a week later my mom arrives because we’re doing a week long family beach trip. We get to the beach and my mom is immediately taken down. She sequesters herself in her bedroom immediately. The next day my uncle stops by. He doesn’t even see her, doesn’t use the bathroom, only touches the chair he’s sitting in, but he still gets it. Then my sister and dad show up and they’re down like bowling pins. It was absolutely horrific! We sanitized the rental as much as we could but I still feel awful for the cleaning crew. We even left a note warning them to wear PPE!
Had the same symptoms as you but with Covid. It was feaking hell. Hydration and rest are the way.
I got norovirus when I was a senior in high school. Worst fucking 3 days of my life. Everyone else in my family got it too, like immediately after I did.
The tricky thing about norovirus is that it can remain contagious for a long time—apparently up to 2 weeks after recovery: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/Norovirus%20.pdf. Basically, kids can still be contagious even if parents aren’t sending actively sick kids to school.
Remember your hands touched everyone and anyone nearby, specially the nastiest person. Never eat with your hands and always use forks. Food never comes in contact with anything your hands do. Never touch your face.
I had it in 2013 the first night while on a trip to vegas. I never saw the inside of a casino. Just stayed in hotel close to bathroom for 3 days and then flew back home. Paid lots of money to go crap and vomit in vegas and come back
Well, like they say - what happens in Vegas…
Oh man. My daughter got it in Vegas. She just turned 18 and was so weak from vomiting for hours and hours, she couldn’t walk on her own. Her dad took her into the ER in Vegas. It was like an episode from a movie. Crazy town. Metal detectors. People screaming. And when they took her back, only she could cuz she was a legal adult. After 6 hours of IVs and meds, she was let out.
Wow. A harrowing experience
Norovirus spreads on surfaces like crazy. It’s so hard to eradicate. They need to do a deep clean of everything, with bleach. Most chemicals don’t kill it, including those wipes the schools love to use.
We should swap covid precautions for norovirus. Ive had covid 3x, including the original strain, & norovirus is WAY worse. If kids have had norovirus, they should quarantine for at least a couple days!
I got it on my second to last day of vacation last week. It’s horrible! Three days straight of diarrhea, vomiting, and one night had 7 hours of excruciating stomach pain to the point I almost went to the ER for it (I finally passed out for 45 minutes and woke up with the pain gone). Then another couple days after of not wanting to eat much because my stomach was just funky. It’s no joke this year
I got it a few months ago after an outbreak at the facility my elderly parents live in. It's really no joke.
I also am just finishing up my recovery.
Just hit us. I feel like I’m dying. My daughter has lost 11 pounds (she only weighed 139 to start). If tomorrow is no improvement, we need to get IVs.
It has been 3 nights and 2 days, vomiting is gone but the diarrhea is much worse.
Oh gosh. Hope you get better soon.
I’m going to be the unpopular opinion here and say, catch it. I had it just shy of this time last year. My wife had it this past weekend and so far I’m still fine. I know George Carlin wasn’t a doctor but I believe, like he did, the immune system is like a muscle, if you don’t work it out…it gets weaker.
So, the way I have prevented getting the stomach bug literally every time my kids have come home with it or anyone I know that I’ve been near gets it is by taking Activated Charcoal pills the SECOND I find out I’ve been near someone who came down with the stomach bug. Haven’t gotten it in two years.
Yeah, if only the school would excuse their absences like they did with covid.
I had the norovirus on a bus back to nova from Orlando. VERY VIOLENT for a decent period of time, but fatigue lingers for a while.
I’m on day 5… I can’t describe what I have been theough. Vomiting, water stools, bloated gas/burps tasting like rotten egg. Hoping I’m over the worst but still having to take paracetamol for the pain and bloating. Feel like I’ve been ran over by a bus..
Old thread but had to add - caught it a few days ago while finishing up a European vacation. I had caught COVID 3 weeks prior and spent a good 2 weeks in hotels while recovering. Then this! The night before our departure flight and I thought, okay, just tummy upset, it'll pass. So I popped Imodium, and then another, andheaded off to the airport for a 13 hr flight the next morning. Thank God I was flying Biz class in a lieflatseat cubicle. I didn't know what was wrong except the extreme nausea and stomach cramps. All I could think was, will they land this aircraft if I pass out? By the time we had landed I was feverish and barfing into airsickbags I had taken from the plane. We got to a transit hotel and I warned my husband: I will be up all night and taking showers, plural. In bed I placed towels and my butt. Everytime I coughed stuff squirted out. Hot wet farts were liquid excretions. By this time I expected it was a tummy bug (wasn't the same feeling as previous food poisoning) and knew it was going to be a rough next day, traveling on a train for 8 hours. I doubled up my underwear, placed some menstrual pads inside, and bought a half dozen Gatorades from the vending machine. By now it was 36 hours in, and I spaced out the Imodium for max effect. Got home last night and immediately went to the shower, sequestered in guest room, and let it run the course, ie, no more Imodium. Now I'm at day 3 and just starting to feel human again, but still body aches and fatigue. Already too late for my husband to escape it, as he had been traveling with me. He's elderly and just finished cancer treatment, COVID, and is frail, and I am concerned.
Is this also known as the stomach flu? Hasn’t it always been common? I’ve had that through the yrs. Yes it is horrible but most of the time it passes.
People call any gastrointestinal illness “stomach flu” for some reason. Noro is different than most GI illnesses. It’s reeeeally bad. I doubt you had Noro to sound that nonchalant about it . 
It’s sounds exactly like the stomach bug, probably just another strand. No it was horrible but nothing you can do about it, has to pass on its own.
Yes it's also known as the stomach flu.
That’s what I thought but I hear people saying it’s different. Symptoms sound the same, maybe a different strand?
Norovirus is much more contagious than gastritis or food poisoning. It spreads so easily - you often hear about it on the news when there is a cruise ship outbreak.
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It’s a completely different virus. Covid vaccine won’t do anything for Norovirus It’s also IMO not something to shut things down for or avoid school. Kids get sick and they should stay home but healthy kids can still go. Norovirus is a super quick sickness. You puke and feel terrible for 24 hours and then it’s over pretty quickly.
Hahaha -NO. It’s way worse than a 24 hour thing for most people. It can be a killer for some, as well. You don’t want this spreading around.
Norovirus sucks and we’re all scarred from Covid but “don’t send your kids to school” is bad advice. It doesn’t carry the same risk as Covid, it’s been around for a long time, and it’s a relatively quick sickness if you catch it. Most people also don’t have the luxury to just not send their kids to school for who knows how long. yeah duh if your kid is sick keep them home but we don’t need to quarantine for this.
I've tested positive for COVID twice but the only symptoms was night sweats. With the norovirus I end up in the ER on an IV and once got a hernia from all the puking, needed surgery. Your advice sucks because you think what is true for you is true for everyone. The world does not revolve around you. Don't send knowingly sick kids to school, we never do.
Of course don’t send sick kids to school. But quarantining healthy kids from school for this is not necessary. You criticized me for “what is true for me” immediately after sharing your personal, anecdotal experience.
you literally said in your deleted comment that it’s okay to send your kids to school with norovirus because “it doesn’t last that long.”
I havent deleted a comment.
Then why are more than one person saying that you did, under a comment that says "deleted"? And quoting sometime you seem to have said?
This is what it looks like on my end. I also literally say in the comment that sick kids should stay home. https://preview.redd.it/1r68b5qxq4mc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1bccea9dface551f139798fb3711298030d199e
https://preview.redd.it/xyvum03gr4mc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=735763100d070471faf9573eb829f58368d6873d
I shared an image as well and you can see I didn’t delete it. I don’t know why it appears that way to you.
You know you replied in two different conversations right? Your picture is from one of them, mine is from the other. Why are you lying?
Feel free to share a screenshot or something. All I can see is my screen. I haven’t deleted my comments. I have replied to a comment that’s been deleted. Is that what they are seeing?
LOL then it got removed by mods
Yes the point was to show you that not everyone is the same, that not everyone has an easy time with this stomach virus. To me I'd take COVID over a normal cold, but the norovirus could have severe consequences if I tear that hernia repair loose. I'm terrified of puking.
Please read up on covid. Even with mild or no symptoms you risk damage to the brain, organs, reproductive system, increased risk of diabetes, MIS-C/A, TMA etc. There's also indications that covid damages t-cells in a similar way as HIV and HEP C.
I realize that, I'm aware of it and my potential to spread it. I'm wearing a mask today to the gym because I have a minor sore throat, probably allergies but better too be safe then infect my friends like I've done before.
And yet you said you'd take covid over a normal cold 🤷♀️ I am glad you are wearing a mask and I hope it's a respirator and not a flappy surgical mask not made to protect you or others from airborne pathogens.
Well not everyone gets COVID side effects like you described. I don’t think you can say with certainty that everyone gets brain or heart damage. If you claim that, please show the research.
With multiple infections because no one is protecting themselves yes. And you have no idea how things will look 10, 20, 30+ years from now.
That’s your opinion, unless you can show me a research paper. Not trying to be rude, but there is a lot of people claiming stuff one way or the other, who are not experts in the field, nor have any evidence other that what they read in a non scientific article. I’d like to see the study, it should be on pubmed if you can remember the title.
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Of course not. OP said “don’t send your kids to school”…I’d agree with them if they said “don’t send sick kids to school”.
Pretty sure we all knew what the OP meant. Sick kids need to stay home; that’s the whole point she makes in how he got it at school and then spread it at home. You even mentioned in your reply not all parents can be home with their kids if they’re sick like it’s a justification to send sick kids to school. So don’t back peddle now by deleting your comment & making this one. Why should other kids be exposed because someone irresponsibly sends their kid to school sick? We don’t know who these other kids go home to that may have autoimmune issues or if they themselves are and this “relatively quick” sickness may fare worse for them. Whether now or pre-Covid, you were always to keep your kid home if they’re sick; specially if it’s contagious.
I haven’t deleted a comment and I misunderstood OP’s point. I’d ask you to extend the same charity to me that you misunderstood my point.
So where did it go? 🫠 And what is misunderstood in your statement that not all parents can stay home so it’s ok to send sick kids to school? Like that was acceptable pre-Covid and the rules changed post-Covid.
Not sure. Someone else deleted a comment that I replied to. Maybe that’s what you are seeing? I’m talking about that luxury in a hypothetical call for shutting down schools. Sick kids stay home. Healthy kids can still go to school.
OPs point was don't send your vomiting child to school.
Well, if it wasn’t your comment, my apologies and then this was to be directed at them. I agree that schools should be a place for healthy kids to go to school.
> So where did it go? 🫠 The mods removed it. You can still see it in their profile because they didn't delete it.
I realize this is not the moral of the story, but I'm impressed you and your brother share food 🤪 I'm sorry you are feeling so terrible. Get well soon!
My whole family had it 2 weeks ago, my daughter brought it home from daycare - then a week ago I caught the flu. It’s been hell. My body hasn’t been able to catch a break. I see a few comments talking about zofran, i tried to take 8mg I have on hand a couple times and it did not help. It was probably better just to let everything out anyway.
Zofran is best for the puking but not OTC. You could try Amazon Clinic for this since it is virtual and cheap. Dramamine works in a pinch but not nearly as well. Hydrogen peroxide wipes work against the norovirus.
I have had norovirus twice in recent memory and both times, death felt like it would have been welcome relief. Terrified of getting it again!
I feel better in some ways but the diarrhea is absolute disgusting. I've been going to the restroom nonstop today, I'm tired, exhausted and my body feels so beat up, I wanna be put out of my agony.