[Closed] This norovirus thing

Oh god no. Stay away.
The missus, Li'l J and myself had this just over a year ago.
5 days of vomit, pooh ,migraines and the worst nausea since seasickness was invented.
I heard there was an outbreak in Norfolk. A wall should be built.

s it like the cold virus, where every season it keeps mutating?

Yes, not necessarily every year, but new strains are emerging on a fairly regular basis. On a global rather than a family level though, so an endless circle of mutating norovirus in your household would be pretty unlucky.

I think it's quite hard to work on in the lab, which makes effective treatments equally hard to produce. I suppose it's might not be that harmless in more vulnerable people - the elderly, sick, so there would be some argument for vaccination.

Questions then - is it like the cold virus, where every season it keeps mutating? Otherwise why don't we have a vaccine (if indeed it's worth the effort of a vaccine for something that's unpleasant but ultimately relatively harmless)? Alternatively if it is like the cold virus, will them three above now have immunity, or can we all pass it round and round again?

Not entirely sure a vaccine would work, it's viral, not bacterial, they're have to find an anti-viral that would work, and Norovirus isn't really as big a threat as flu, which can kill lots of people; Norovirus just makes you beg for a quick, clean end.
It is, apparently, very difficult to study, because of the speed it works at, and it only needs tiny amounts to infect.
Had it once, it was [i]deeply[/i] unpleasant, left me wrung out for months, after I caught some sort of flu-like virus straight after, which turned my head and lungs into industrial-scale green goo factories.
And, as anyone who's had a cold will attest, having caught one, you're not immune to catching more.

Not entirely sure a vaccine would work, it's viral,

Vaccines work against viruses

an excellent way to shed a few unwanted kilos.

I ate crab cakes then had norovirus.
The next time I had crab cakes I was really ill. Related?

Stop nicking their cakes, it's just shellfish.

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And, as anyone who's had a cold will attest, having caught one, you're not immune to catching more

True, but you won't catch the same cold again, it'll be a different variant. that's why colds are 'impossible' to prevent because they keep mutating and creating new strains.

Hence my question, is Norovirus 'cold like' or once you've had it are you then subsequently immune.

(it all stemmed from the discussion my wife and i had when my eldest daughter started hoying up. I said the wife should clean up because she'd already had it and would therefore be immune. She said she could catch it again, and that it was likely I'd get it anyway, so why not just get it over and done with. I lost that argument, so am now on timebomb status)

If you're more than 24 hours on from last contact, you may have dodged that particular exploding ordnance.

But if you have kids in nursery or primary school, the next dose is always approaching fast.

In answer to your wifey argument, you are correct, she is not, but she is correct on all matters, because she is your wife. Get yer marigolds on. 😀

If you're more than 24 hours on from last contact, you may have dodged that particular exploding ordnance.

That was my thinking too...... Sun night/Mon morning, so now approaching 30 hours since last contact.

However.

Youngest was 6pm last Monday evening.

Wife started about 8am friday morning

Eldest about 1am Monday

I'll start feeling confident sometime Thursday. Until then, every fart is like twisting on 19.

an excellent way to shed a few unwanted kilos.

It is very efficient, 9lbs in three days in my case, but you'd have to be pretty bloody desperate to lose weight to take this option. It was easily the most ill I've ever felt. Probably even worse than the flu.

if it's being spread round the family you probably need to tighten up on a couple of things:

1. proper hand washing with hot water after every toilet use
2. wipe the toilet with a sponge / bleach after every use (and wash hands properly afterwards)
3. Clean door handles with bleach regularly - particularly the bathroom and if possible give kitchen drawer / cupboard handles the once over as well
4. use separate towels for drying hands (or better still kitchen roll and then throw it away)
5. Wash all cutlery and plates in scolding hot water after use
6. Enforce quarantine - family members need to stay in their bedroom until the symptoms stop and enforce all of the above rules
7. No-one with any symptoms allowed in food prep areas / kitchen cupboards

Mrs_d had it a couple of years age. I have no idea how I dodged that bullet, but I think I'd rather have shingles