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Norovirus & Flu Outbreaks in Victoria


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#1 Dimitrios

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Posted 26 January 2013 - 11:39 PM

I think norovirus is going around town. Anyone else have an episode? I just spent the weekend so far dealing with alternating brutal chills and sweats, muscle aches, sleeplessness and nausea. Eck. A pal recently had his surgery cancelled because the doctor diagnosed him with similar 'Norwalk-like symptoms'.

'Winter vomiting disease' is apparently not the flu, but rather one of the main causes of food poisoning, otherwise known as gastroenteritis. Perhaps I experienced the new fast-acting Sydney strain?

Apparently Stephen Colbert made a recent quip about it: "Remember, if you're in public and have the winter vomiting bug, be polite and vomit into your elbow."

#2 sebberry

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Posted 26 January 2013 - 11:52 PM

A friend of mine was sick last week but so far nothing has hit me.

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#3 Holden West

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 01:06 AM

Everyone lately seems to have experience with something similar. I caught something, it might have been a bad cold but it was something different than I've experienced before. It hung around in my chest a lot longer than an average cold. I was talking to an emergency room doc at VGH a couple of weeks ago who said they were experiencing a big increase in volume recently, nearly 50% more than normal, a lot of it being people with flu-like symptoms. People were coming in at 10 pm and not seeing a physician for four or five hours. I think this cold/flu is so severe people are mistaking it for strep throat or some other bad bacterial infection.
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#4 gumgum

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 08:24 AM

Having 2 young kids I am innundated with germs all the time. Frequent hand washing only gets you so far when you have no control over the daily interactions of your kids with others. When my little cesspools come home from somewhere, god only knows what bacteria that is lurking in their little bodies.

So far this winter one of us has had the noro, the flu and several colds. I personally have been pretty lucky at staying healthy. (Just got sneazed on by my toddler.) I am convinced my semi-success is mostly due to daily doses of acidopholis, quality vitamins and semi-healthy eating. *knocks on wood*

#5 Holden West

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 08:29 AM

The mother of a four year-old was telling me yesterday of the extreme measure she was taking to keep this nasty bug away from her family, including doing things she swore she'd never do, like copious amounts of hand sanitizer when out in public. She was quite proud of her vigilance until she was at Superstore and saw her four year old running his tongue along the entire length of the checkout. I am told her scream was heard over a wide area.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#6 Bingo

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 08:47 AM

I've had cold symptoms for two weeks, and just when you think your're feeling better it strikes again. Lots of handwashing, fluids and rest is the advise. My friends who have had it says it took them 5 weeks before it was totally gone.

#7 Dimitrios

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 09:57 AM

HW -classic kid story!

This one for me was

1-very different than a cold. I get nailed bad by colds, usually, 2-4 weeks before they're gone... quite brutal. But I had no respiratory issues at all - no stuffiness, trouble breathing, mucus, etc.

2-pretty fast-acting. 48 hours later, I seem to be 95% better.

3-very smelly. The wife chose the spare room last night to avoid my gut-rot... Aw.

#8 bluefox

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 01:09 PM

Most of the people I know to have been sick this winter were struck down by actual flu and not norovirus, though there have been quite a few outbreaks at hospitals here on the mainland. Keeping my fingers crossed that I make it through the winter season without getting sick again - I already had the flu in November, bronchitis shortly afterward (yay for secondary infections!), and now I am on the tail end of a mild cold.
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#9 Mike K.

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 01:16 PM

geek, maybe you had food poisoning?

Last time I had food poisoning I also had a fever and felt terrible. 48 hours later I was totally fine.

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#10 jonny

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 02:46 PM

I have some gut issue. I started feeling terrible Thursday. No fever, chills, caugh or stuffiness, but definitely bad stomach pain, nausea, loss of appetite, gas and general lethargy. This is very different than anything I have had before.

I don't think it was food poisoning as my family has been fine and I ate a home all week.

#11 gumgum

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Posted 27 January 2013 - 02:48 PM

^Yup that was the worst of it for me. Definately Noro.

#12 arfenarf

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Posted 28 January 2013 - 09:36 AM

I've had cold symptoms for two weeks, and just when you think your're feeling better it strikes again. Lots of handwashing, fluids and rest is the advise. My friends who have had it says it took them 5 weeks before it was totally gone.


ˆThis is going around my community and I have it. In my spare time, I'm a triathlete, and my training has been all but wiped out for two weeks. I just can't get ahead of this thing. But I'm not horrifically disgustingly sick. Just run down and have a cold I can't shake.

I got a flu shot early in January and have wondered whether this is my immune system doing battle with something that would be a lot worse if I hadn't primed it.

#13 Dimitrios

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Posted 28 January 2013 - 10:34 AM

Mike - my understanding is that many cases of food poisoning are actually caused by norovirus. So yes, I'm assuming that's basically what it was, whether contracted from food or from some dirty surface.

#14 Mike K.

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Posted 28 January 2013 - 03:21 PM

^oh, that's interesting. Certainly makes sense given the similarity of symptoms.

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#15 Holden West

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Posted 11 June 2014 - 11:57 AM

Yeah, stop right here if you're eating lunch.

 

Norovirus is being blamed for a severe bout of gastrointestinal illness suffered by about 80 people after they swam at Thetis Lake in recent days.

...

Millions of particles may be spewed when a person vomits or has an attack of diarrhea or coughs, and it only takes contact with a few such particles to transmit the illness.

 

- See more at: http://www.timescolo...h.rwBFC7mY.dpuf

Edited by Holden West, 11 June 2014 - 11:57 AM.

"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

 



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