Protect yourself from norovirus this winter

Norovirus image courtesy CDC/ Charles D. Humphrey, PhD

Norovirus infections are on the rise in the U.S. and around the world right now.

Sometimes called stomach flu or “winter vomiting,” norovirus infections cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps. The sickness can last from one to three days.

Norovirus spreads when people come in contact with surfaces or eat food contaminated with bodily fluids from a sick person. The virus is very contagious, and an infected person can pass it on even before they start feeling sick and for up to three days after they feel better. The virus spreads quickly in places where people live or play closely together: day care centers, schools, nursing homes, hotels and cruise ships.

The norovirus is more active in cold weather, so cases usually peak during the colder months, but some officials are saying that cases are higher than ever this season. Outbreaks have been reported in California, Oregon, Georgia, Maine, West Virginia and on several cruise ships. More than 1 million people are thought to have been infected in the U.K. this winter — 72 percent more cases than last year.

The most common way that norovirus spreads is through food that has been handled by an infected person. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 50 percent of food-related illness each year is caused by norovirus contamination.

There is good news, though: Norovirus infection can be prevented! Here are some steps to take to save yourself from this yucky virus:

1. Wash your hands with soap and water. You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with hot, soapy water. This is especially important to do before and after you eat or prepare food, after using the restroom and when taking care of someone who is sick. We have great fact sheets to help hand-washers of all ages.
2. Don’t make food for other people if you are sick.
3. Wash fruits and vegetables well and cook seafood thoroughly. 
4. If you or a loved one gets sick, make sure to wash clothes, sheets and towels in hot water.

We hope that these tips help you stay infection-free this winter!

Celebrating Global Handwashing Day

Today is Global Hand-washing Day. Yes, you heard us right: Hand-washing has its own worldwide celebration.

Why make such a fuss over washing your hands? Because hand-washing is a pretty big deal! Here in the U.S., we might take soap and water for granted, but it is one of the most important things a person can do to stay healthy. In fact, a study of students in Detroit showed that people who wash their hands properly reported 24 percent fewer colds and 51 percent fewer stomach illnesses.

Image: "Wash Your Hands" poster in 24 languages,
courtesy Minnesota Department of Public Health

So how do you wash your hands the right way? Take five:

1. Use clean, warm water.
2. Lather up with soap.
3. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds — long enough to say the alphabet, or sing the “happy birthday” song twice.
4. Rinse your hands with clean water.
5. Dry your hands.

If soap and clean water are not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol content.

That’s it! If you start practicing healthy hand habits today, each and every time you wash your hands, you’re already on your way to a healthier you.

For more information about hand-washing, and for tips on talking to kids, teens and adults about the best way to wash their hands, check out our free fact sheets!

Summer Safe: Don’t let these three infectious diseases ruin your summer fun

Do your late summer plans include a trip to a state or county fair? How about a camping trip, or perhaps a visit to a local farm?

Reports of infectious diseases spread by animals and insects have been on the rise this summer. Here are three infectious diseases that have been in the news recently, along with tips for how you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

H3N2v, aka “swine flu,” from pigs

[Image courtesy
USDA/Scott Bauer]

In the last few weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported new cases of a type of influenza, H3N2v, that comes from pigs. Most of the people who got sick with this new type of flu had direct contact with pigs on farms or at state and county fairs. If you work around pigs or if you will be attending a fair or farm show, follow these tips to protect yourself:

• Always wash your hands after touching animals.
• Don’t eat or drink if you’re in an animal enclosure, and keep your hands away from your face.
• If you have a weak immune system or are at high-risk for flu, stay away from pigs. This includes young children and adolescents, pregnant women, people who are already sick and people ages 65 and older.
• Stay away from any animal that looks sick or acts strange. Call a veterinarian if you suspect that an animal is sick.

For more information, check out CDC’s H3N2v page.

[Image courtesy
USDA/Keith Weller]

Salmonella from baby chickens
Live baby poultry such as ducklings and chickens are adorable — what kid can’t resist picking up one of these cute, fuzzy, chirping animals? Don’t let their cuteness fool you: These animals can pose a health risk, especially to young children. Baby poultry, found in petting zoos, fairs and even in classrooms or at home, have been known to spread salmonella.

This year alone, baby chickens have been linked to salmonella cases in states around the country. Here are some tips to prevent illness from salmonella:

• Don’t let children younger than age 5 touch or handle chicks or ducklings.
• Don’t bring chicks, ducklings or other live poultry into your house.
• Make sure anyone who handles baby poultry washes their hands thoroughly with soap and water. Adults should help young children wash their hands. For information about hand-washing for any age group, check out our collection of Get Ready fact sheets!

CDC has more information on salmonella and baby birds on its website.

West Nile virus from mosquitoes

[Mosquito image courtesy
CDC/ Frank Collins, PhD.]

So far this year, 42 states and the District of Columbia have reported West Nile infections in people, birds or mosquitoes. People get West Nile virus when they are bitten by mosquitoes that carry the disease. You can’t tell if a mosquito is infected just by looking at it, so the best protection is to prevent mosquito bites.

• When you go outdoors, use insect repellent — especially at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active.
• Wear long sleeves and pants when possible.
• Mosquitoes breed in still water, so remember to empty out barrels, flowerpots and buckets that are filled with water on your property or in your neighborhood. 
• Learn more about protecting yourself from mosquitoes by checking out our fact sheet (PDF).

You can learn more about West Nile virus from CDC.

Even though these infectious diseases are on the rise, protecting yourself can be as simple as washing your hands and wearing bug spray. We hope this helps you stay safe this summer!

2011-2012 flu season is officially over

Welcome to our last Flu Friday post of the season!

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the 2011-2012 flu season has officially ended. The season is usually declared over when low numbers of people go to the doctor for flu-like illnesses.

In its final FluView report, CDC stated that the “late and mild flu season” has set the record for the lightest and slowest-starting flu season since it started tracking the flu in 1997.

Officials aren’t sure why the flu season was so mild this year, but they think it might have something to do with the warm winter, the fact that many of the flu viruses circulating this year were also around last year and the fact that more people in the U.S. have gotten their annual flu shot.

This doesn’t mean that we’re totally flu-free now. As CDC wrote in its FluView report, “The late start of this season and the fact that flu viruses circulate year-round in the United States means that some flu activity will likely continue to occur in the coming weeks.”

Yes, you can still get the flu in the summer! If you’re helping us track the flu with our FluNearYou tool, we’ll still send out the weekly “How Are You Feeling?” emails.

Be sure to stay healthy this summer by practicing good hand-washing. And don’t forget to check out our new Summer Safe series, where we’ll bring you tips to stay healthy so you can have fun all summer long!

Learn how to save lives on World Hand Hygiene Day

Today is World Hand Hygiene Day, an event created by the World Health Organization to educate people about hand-washing to stop the spread of infectious diseases in health care settings.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put out a short video to teach everyone about hand-washing in hospitals. We know that hand-washing is important for health providers like nurses and doctors, but it’s also important for hospital patients and visitors too!

Check out the video and learn how you can save lives in a hospital, just by washing your hands — and reminding your nurses, doctors and other health workers to do the same!

And don’t forget to check out our hand-washing fact sheets for more information!

Flu Fridays: Could your job put you at risk for the flu?

It's Flu Friday, and we want to know: Are you sick of your job? Or is your job making you sick?

A new study looked at the jobs of people who were hospitalized with the flu during the 2009–2010 flu season. What researchers found was surprising: People who worked in some fields were more likely to get a very bad case of the flu than people who worked other types of jobs.

What kind of jobs were related to workers having a serious case of the flu? At the top of the list were health workers. This wasn't breaking news, because nurses, doctors and other health workers have to deal directly with sick people. But some other surprising jobs made the list:

• Transportation and warehouse workers: 1.5 times more likely than the average worker to get serious flu.
• Administrative support and waste management workers: 1.5 times more likely.
• Hotel and restaurant workers: 1.3 times more likely.
• Retail workers: 1.1 times more likely.

The study found that other jobs — such as teachers and construction workers —  were less likely than the average U.S. worker to get sent to the hospital from a serious case of the flu. (That may surprise any teacher who has had to deal with lots of sick students!)

But if this news makes you want to quit your job, not so fast!  First off, the study found that in general, people with jobs landed in the hospital a lot less often than people who didn't work at all. So having a job — and a regular paycheck — is generally a good thing for your health, according to the study.

Plus, the study found other things could have increased people's risk for getting very sick with the flu aside from their job. For example, researchers found that more than 30 percent of people who worked in the hotel and restaurant industry were smokers — and smoking can really increase your chances of having serious complications if you get the flu. Other things that made people more likely to get really sick from flu included having a chronic disease, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and not having a regular place to go for health care, such as a doctor or clinic that you go to every time you get sick.

So what does it all mean? No matter what kind of job you have (or want to have), this new study doesn't change the fact that you can do a lot of things to protect yourself from a bad case of the flu.

Our top tips:

• Get a seasonal flu shot every year.
• Wash your hands and practice good hygiene.
• In general, keep yourself as healthy as possible to prevent things like diabetes and heart disease.
• If you smoke, quit smoking.
• If you get sick, see your doctor.
• If you get the flu, stay home from work. You'll get better faster and you won't spread the flu to your coworkers!

Norovirus in the news

If you’ve listened to the news lately, you may have noticed people talking about norovirus, a bug that has sickened cruise-goers and college students around the country in recent months. If you’ve found yourself wondering, “What is norovirus, exactly?” we’re here to clear things up.

[Image: norovirus virons,
courtesy CDC/Charles D. Humphrey.]

“Norovirus” is actually a group of viruses that affect the stomach and large intestines. People sickened by noroviruses often experience vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping. Sometimes the illness comes with other less-common symptoms, such as a low-grade fever, chills, muscle aches and tiredness. The symptoms usually begin suddenly and last for one to two days. It’s common for people to say that they have food poisoning or stomach flu, when really they’ve been sickened by a norovirus.

Noroviruses are spread through bodily fluids, such as vomit or feces of a sick person, or from surfaces that the sick person has touched. People living in close quarters — such as on a cruise ship or in a college dorm — are more likely to spread the illness, which is why we often hear about outbreaks on cruise ships and college campuses. Another way noroviruses are spread is through food that has been prepared by a sick person, which is why these infections are sometimes misnamed food poisoning.

Despite all the recent attention, noroviruses are not new. A recent study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that noroviruses are the leading cause of infectious disease outbreaks in hospitals, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 50 percent of foodborne illness outbreaks in the U.S. are caused by viruses in this family.

If you are worried about protecting yourself against noroviruses, never fear! Here’s a list of things you can do to prevent their spread:

• Proper hand-washing is the best thing you can do to prevent illness caused by noroviruses. Wash your hands every time you use the restroom and always before eating food. CDC has found some evidence that alcohol-based hand sanitizers alone are not effective in killing noroviruses, so be sure to wash with soap and water as well. If you need a refresher on the best hand-washing techniques, read our Get Ready fact sheet (PDF).
•  Avoid close contact with someone who is sick. If someone around you develops symptoms of norovirus infection, don’t share eating utensils or cups, and don’t let the sick person prepare food for others for at least three days after they recover. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth before washing your hands, and avoid shaking hands if there is an outbreak near you.
•  Disinfect surfaces with a household cleaner that contains chlorine bleach, and be sure to machine-wash the sick person’s clothes, towels and sheets with hot water and dry on the highest heat setting.

If you want to find out if there’s a norovirus outbreak near you, there’s an app for that! HealthMap offers a website and an iPhone app that enable users to search for outbreaks of noroviruses (or any other illness!) by ZIP code. Check it out via the Outbreaks Near Me page.

[Image: Outbreaks Near Me screenshot courtesy HealthMap]