The Norwalk/Norovirus Group
Norwalk virus is a prototype virus belong to the genus Norovirus. The virus can withstand freezing temperatures and heat above 60C.
[bul] Symptoms: Vary from nausea to violent vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Symptoms normally show up within 24 to 48 hours and may last a number of days.
[bul] Causes: Commonly transmitted through contaminated food and water initially and then by person-to-person contact. Shellfish and salad ingredients have been implicated as sources of the virus outbreak in the past, also municipal water supplies, swimming pools and ice machines.
[bul] Outbreaks: Schools and hospitals in the UK, US and elsewhere have faced partial and total closure or quarantine during serious outbreaks. Cruise ships in the Caribbean have also harboured the virus, including 1,200 people being affected on two ships in early 1986.
[bul] Treatment: Recovery from the illness normally entails getting sufferers being rehydrated quickly.
[bul] Immunity: The virus can have its severest effects in people with blood group ‘O’ but there is evidence of partial protection from infection amongst those with blood types ‘B’ and ‘AB’
