NHS warns people with norovirus to stay at home as infections soar
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‘If you catch it; stay home, rest and have plenty of fluids,’ NHS warns. People who catch norovirus have been urged by the NHS to stay at home while they recover as cases of the illness surged during December. Healthcare professionals warned the stomach flu can be “very unpleasant” but generally clears up in around two days.
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In a warning issued on Twitter, the NHS said: “Norovirus is a stomach bug that causes diarrhoea and vomiting. It can be very unpleasant, but usually goes away in about two days. “If you catch it; stay home, rest and have plenty of fluids.”. Figures from earlier in the month reveal an 86 per cent rise in norovirus cases in hospitals compared with the same week last year - with data showing there were an average of 756 patients with norovirus in hospital beds each day in a week.
Norovirus is linked to around 12,000 hospital admissions in the UK each year, with the virus potentially able to trigger severe illness in individuals with compromised immune systems. Diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain are the most common symptoms linked with norovirus, with the illness also causing dehydration.
The warning comes after NHS officials said in early December that hospitals in England were managing “record flu levels going into winter”. They said hospitals were facing a ‘quad-demic’ - a phrase which refers to the four conditions which add extra pressure on services in the winter months - flu, Covid-19, respiratory syncytial vicus and norovirus.
