NOROVIRUS IS ALREADY SPREADING FAST, WHICH MEANS IT WILL BE ONE EXPLOSIVE WINTER
I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of winter to expect in the American Northeast, and it’s still pretty nebulous. Will it be mild, with the occasional blizzard that melts in two days? No one has much of an idea yet. But it will still be winter in terms of germs, viruses and the regular seasonal malaise. Yet speaking of “regular,” what won’t be so much is how widespread norovirus already is. And widespread means it’s already making its horrid presence, uh, deeply felt. In other words, this will be an explosive winter, like Jackson Pollock meets an alleyway behind a dozen bars.
ONE SCHOOL IN SCOTLAND HAD TO BE SHUT DOWN FOR A FULL, DEEP CLEANING
This past weekend on the other side of the Pond, an elementary school just outside of Glasgow (Scotland) needed a deep cleaning. And while that’s generally true for schools, this time it was badly needed after there were so many cases of norovirus, that explosive diarrhea hit students and staff alike with no discrimination . This is what I mean by how we’re all in for one explosive winter. Because it’s already started, and no one is immune. But that’s always been true, and this year seems to be no exception.
NOROVIRUS HITS 685 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR, AND THIS YEAR WILL BE NO EXCEPTION
In any given year, about 685 million people catch norovirus worldwide, with nearly a third of those being children under the age of 5. 200,000 of those cases are fatal, with a quarter of those being kids. In America, norovirus turns into about 20 million cases of the stomach flu, hospitalizing 50,000 and killing 800. So it’s no joke, and we all need to pay attention as we get deeper into this explosive winter. Symptoms could include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, high temperature, headache, stomach ache, and body aches. I you feel any of those, you should stay home for 48 hours after the symptoms go away.
Otherwise, a lot of America will be in for a deep cleaning, just as we start a government shutdown.
