Some students and employees suddenly feel unwell, China Agricultural University informed——

Today, China Agricultural University issued an Emergency Notice.

The notice said that in recent days, some students and employees of the West Campus suddenly felt unwell, and had diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms, and the school immediately organized an investigation and isolated the patients in time. After the investigation by the disease control department, it is a norovirus infection that is easy to occur in winter and spring. This is a highly contagious gastrointestinal infection transmitted through contact. Under the professional guidance of the government's disease control department, the school has launched an emergency plan, carried out epidemiological investigations, and comprehensively disinfected disease-related places and public places.

The notice said that teachers, students, and employees are requested to pay attention to personal hygiene, wear masks, wash hands frequently, do not gather, and reduce the chance of virus exposure as much as possible in strict accordance with the requirements for the prevention and control of norovirus infection. If you have symptoms such as physical discomfort, diarrhea, vomiting, etc., please go to the school hospital for examination in time.

Norovirus infection can occur throughout the year

It mainly occurs in childcare institutions and primary and secondary schools

How is norovirus acute gastroenteritis transmitted?

What are the clinical manifestations after infection?

And how to prevent it?

Interpretation by the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention

01

Is norovirus acute gastroenteritis severe?

How is it treated?

Picture | the team is uniform

Human infection with norovirus can lead to acute gastroenteritis, generally 12-48 hours after ingestion of the virus symptoms, the main symptoms are vomiting and diarrhea, followed by nausea, abdominal pain, headache, fever, chills and so on. Manifestations differ in adults and children after infection with norovirus, with vomiting predominantly in children and diarrhea in adults.

Norovirus acute gastroenteritis is a self-limiting disease with mild disease, usually lasting 2 to 3 days, with a good prognosis, but the elderly, infants, and people with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of serious complications. At present, there is no specific drug for norovirus acute gastroenteritis, no need to take antibiotics, mainly rehydration solutions and symptomatic treatment, if the symptoms of dehydration are serious, you should seek medical treatment in time.

02

Can a person be infected with norovirus multiple times?

There are many types of norovirus, and new variants can generally appear in 2-3 years. Norovirus infection receives only short-term immune protection against the same type of virus (6-24 months), so a person can be infected with norovirus multiple times in their lifetime.

03

How is norovirus transmitted?

Norovirus is mainly transmitted through the fecal-oral route. Specific transmission methods are diverse: ingestion of contaminated food and water, contact with patient excrement or vomit, contact with contaminated hands, objects or utensils, contact with aerosols produced by vomiting, etc. can cause norovirus transmission.

Bivalve shellfish such as oysters can enrich norovirus in seawater and make it a high-risk food. Most outbreaks caused by foodborne transmission are caused by food contamination by norovirus-infected kitchen workers.

04

How to prevent norovirus

Acute gastroenteritis?

1. Develop good hygiene habits. Raw melons and fruits should be washed, oysters and other shellfish seafood must be fully heated and cooked before eating, choose sanitary bottled water, drink boiled water.

2. Maintaining good hand hygiene is the most effective measure to prevent norovirus infection and transmission. Wash your hands with soap and running water before meals, after going to the toilet, and before processing food, and disinfectant tissues and hand sanitizers are not a substitute for handwashing.

3. Patients with norovirus acute gastroenteritis need to be isolated at home until 72 hours after the symptoms disappear, and those with hidden infections need to be isolated until 72 hours after the test is positive. Avoid close contact with your family during the isolation period, use daily necessities such as tableware alone, and pay attention to the cleaning and ventilation of the toilet.

Food processors, nurses, kindergarten nurses and other infected people engaged in food processing and child service work, the isolation measures are the same as in general cases, but they need to test negative twice in a row (24 hours apart) before resuming work.

4. Feces, vomit, polluted environment and articles of norovirus infected people should be disinfected with chlorine disinfectants, and disinfectants with alcohol as the main component are not effective in disinfection.

Personal protection should be taken when handling contaminants to avoid direct contact with contaminants. When textiles (including clothing, towels, tablecloths and napkins, etc.) are contaminated with vomit or feces, the solid filth should be removed first, and then soaked in a chlorinated disinfectant solution with a concentration of 500mg/L for 30 minutes before cleaning, or steam or boiling for 30 minutes, and the formation of aerosols should be avoided during the process.

Contaminated food should be discarded and food utensils can be disinfected by boiling for 30 minutes.

If someone vomits, you should immediately stay away from vomit, after personal protection, prepare a concentration of 5000-10000mg/L chlorine disinfectant, with a disposable water absorbent material soaked in chlorine disinfectant (such as gauze, rags, etc.) completely cover the pollutants, carefully remove clean.

Avoid contact with contaminants during the removal process, tools such as rags used in cleaning, and containers containing contaminants must be soaked in 5000mg/L chlorine disinfectant for 30 minutes and thoroughly rinsed before being used again.

Source || Beijing Daily