Increasing gastric flu cases in Singapore
October 8, 2006 by Grace Ibay
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
An epidemic of gastric flu has affected more than 500 children in Singapore since last week. The first cases were from the Ang Mo Kio Secondary School, where 300 students were affected. Maris Stella High Primary reported 20 students had symptoms of gastric flu last week. On Monday, Stamford Primary School reported around 82 students were affected.
Norovirus gastroenteritis, the virus causing gastric flu, is present in the stools of vomit of infected people. The infection spreads when objects or food become contaminated withe the virus. At the Ang Mo Kio school, five food handlers tested positive for the virus in their stools, causing school officials to have a massive cleaning operation all over school premises, particularly in the cafeteria and toilets. As of today, the source of infection for the other schools are still unknown. The water supply was tested and came back negative for the virus.
According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus-associated gastroenteritis occurs within 12 hours of exposure. Some of the symptoms are acute-onset vomiting, watery non-bloody diarrhea with abdominal cramps, and nausea. Low-grade fever also occasionally occurs, and vomiting is more common in children. The noroviruses are highly contagious and only a few viral particles are needed to infect an individual.
The best way to prevent infection is safe handling of food and water. And nothing beats good basic hygiene such as thorough hand washing after using the bathrooms and before handling food.
[Sources: Earthtimes; Channel News Asia]
Tags: gastroenteritis, gastric flu, noroviruses, Singapore
