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Auckland city’s early learning services have witnessed a tenfold rise in norovirus outbreak in the last month, which could be attributed to a switch in cleaning supplies in the preschools to avoid the transmission of COVID-19.
Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) countered 29 norovirus outbreaks in November, and 21 of these outbreaks happened in preschools.
Source: Shutterstock
About 64 staff and 280 children had fallen ill. ARPHS responded to about 9 norovirus outbreaks with just 2 in early learning facilities during the same period in 2019. Six staff and 29 attendees had fallen sick, subsequently.
Dr Jay Harrower, Medical Officer of Health, stated that it was a substantial rise compared to numbers in 2019. He asserted that some centres had been cleaning with ammonia-based products as they were advertised as inactivating the coronavirus.
Mr Harrower stated that most of the centres have moved away from chlorine bleach for cleaning and urged centres to use hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) products for all cleaning, frequently and completely.
The Norovirus infection
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention listed the most common symptoms of a norovirus infection, which includes, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, fever, headaches, and body aches.
Norovirus can be contracted through:
- Direct contact with an infected person
- Consumption of contaminated food or water
- Touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then putting the same hands in mouth
The symptoms of Norovirus develop in 12-48 hours after being exposed to the virus and causes inflammation of stomach or intestines with vomiting and diarrhoea likely to occur throughout the day.
People with norovirus disease can spread billions of particles of Norovirus, making other people sick with just a few virus particles. People of all ages could get infected and get ill with this virus.
Norovirus can live outside the body, which means it can contaminate hard surfaces, toys, dishes, cutlery, and other objects and contribute to sickness in others.
How to prevent Norovirus?
Washing hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating or preparing food, before taking any medicine and after using toilet/changing diapers is one of the most important steps in preventing the spread of the virus.
Source: Shutterstock
Further additional measures like careful preparation of food, cleaning and disinfecting areas and washing contaminated clothes can further act as preventive steps.
As per Dr Harrower, though the majority of people make a fast and early recovery from the virus, very young children could become unwell to the extent that hospital care is needed.
He also asserted that extended family living together in the same area might find it challenging to take time off work while they have sick kids, so it is essential to warn parents and caregivers that tummy bugs are very infectious.
