Friday 28 December 2012

Norovirus Cases Up

Before the Christmas break we had students and colleagues going down in droves from the Norovirus, or Winter Vomiting bug, and the Health Protection Agency has released figures that show there have been 3,538 cases from July to mid-December which is 83% higher than the same period in 2011. 
The agency added that for every reported case an estimated 288 go unreported, meaning there could be 1.01 million cases and worryingly the worst months are generally between January to March which could mean the worst is yet to come.
A spokesman for the HPA said there was no indication as to why there are more cases of Norovirus this year than last but i would have thought it was pretty obvious.
It is known to spread rapidly in closed environments such as hospitals and schools and hits its heights in winter which is when more peope are inside.
As this year we have had so much rain, people have not been out and about so much or preferring to go to places inside to avoid the raindrops.
Lots of people in closed environments earlier than usual and bingo, lots of cases of the Norovirus striking earlier than expected. 
Another unforeseen result of the crazy 2012 weather here in the United Kingdom.
One of the questions on the NHS website is what can you do when you have caught the virus and i can answer that one as i had it last year.
Grab a bucket, make sure that you are close to a lavatory and don't make any plans for the next 3 or 4 days.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

lucy,

it seems logical that global warming would improve the conditions needed for novovirus thereby increasing the number of reported cases in the UK.

q

Lucy said...

By conditions do you mean the extreme weather events that keep people indoors and in closer contact with each other in the seasons that we are usually outside more or the environmental conditions which are favourable for the virus to spread?

Anonymous said...

no. wouldn't viruses prosper in a warmer world?

q

Lucy said...

I have no idea what the best environmental conditions for a virus are the best conditions for the spread of a virus is where a lot of people are together.