A parent stopped by my office at the GBM this morning to tell me that he took one of his children to the Northfield Hospital emergency room over the weekend for severe vomiting and diarrhea. The child was diagnosed with norovirus (aka Norwalk agent) and he said the emergency room was very busy with similar cases.
There’s an outbreak in Alexandria according to this article in the Echo Press: Peak norovirus season under way in Minnesota.
It’s out there. The Enders family had a nasty bout of Norwalk-type illness over Thanksgiving, and I’ve seen/heard about plenty of it around Lakeville a month or two back.
It’s not at all pleasant. On the bright side, it usually doesn’t last very long, and (as a plus for parents and pediatricians) it is usually (not always) milder in young kids than it is in adults.
Thanks for the update, Dr. Enders!
Thanks for the warning. This is not related to the H1N1? I’ve had several bouts of respiratory and stomach flu over the last several months, but no vomiting.
I do wish parents would tell their children not to run down the aisles in the grocery store, patting all the fruits and vegetables and meat packages, in particular. Seems there is at least one child doing this at any given time.\
How long do germs live on these surfaces?