If you’re experiencing nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea then chances are you are infected with viral gastroenteritis. It is a common viral condition that affects the intestines and causes various symptoms. It can be contagious and can spread from person to person. Most people can get better on their own. Some people can experience symptoms. However, it can be prevented with some strategies. Learn how you can prevent the spread of gastroenteritis in this article. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.

Prevention tips

Gastroenteritis or stomach bug is quite a common stomach problem that causes symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, etc. However, certain tips can help you prevent this condition:

1. Wash your hands well: Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds to ensure all the germs get removed from your hands. You should wash your hands before cooking meals, after using the toilet, after changing diapers, before handing over medicine to someone else, etc. Remember that hand sanitizer doesn’t work well against norovirus, so don’t use hand sanitizers as a substitute for hand wash.
2. Handle and prepare food safely: Handling and food preparation in the kitchen is especially important because most cases of food poisoning happen due to unhygienic cooking or improper food handling. So, follow these instructions for safe food cooking and handling, including:
3. Wash fruits and vegetables properly.
4. When cooking oysters and other shellfish, then make sure you cook them at an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Daily clean and sanitize kitchen utensils, cutting boards, counters, and surfaces, especially after handling shellfish.
6. When you go shopping for food products, keep raw oysters away from ready-to-eat food in your grocery cart, refrigerator, and on cutting boards.
7. Throw away food that might contain bacteria or viruses.

Remember that noroviruses are somewhat resistant to heat and can withstand temperatures as high as 145 degrees Fahrenheit. The quick steaming process will not provide enough heat to foods to kill norovirus and food even looks, smells, or tastes normal as well. So, cook for a little longer to ensure that the virus gets destroyed.

• Clean and disinfect surfaces: You should keep the surfaces clean that can carry germs and infect you and your loved ones. It includes:
• Wear rubber or disposable gloves to wipe the entire area with paper towels and throw them in a plastic trash bag.
• Disinfect the area by using a chlorine bleach solution with a concentration of 1000 to 5000 ppm or use an EPA-registered disinfectant product against norovirus.
• Leave bleach disinfectant on the surfaces for at least 5 minutes.
• Clean the entire area again with soap and hot water.
• Wash laundry well: If your clothes have vomit or poop on them, then immediately remove them and wash them. When you clean them, you should consider this:
• Wear rubber and disposable gloves.
• Handle items carefully without shaking them.
• Wash the items with detergent and hot water on maximum cycle length and then machine them dry on the highest heat setting.
• Wash your hands with soap and water.
• Take medicine as prescribed by the doctor: If your gastroenteritis lasts longer than several days then seek medical advice from a doctor. The doctor may recommend antibiotics to treat your infection. However, don’t try to self-medicate because it can cause side effects.

Caring for a child with gastroenteritis

Most norovirus infections get better in a day or two, even in children. However, children need special attention to prevent complications like dehydration which is common in them. To keep them rehydrated at home, you can:

• Ensure they breastfeed and drink formula. For older children, give them clear liquids along with over-the-counter oral rehydration fluid to replace key electrolytes.
• Make sure they’re urinating, and you get the usual number of wet diapers during the time your baby’s sick with the stomach bug. If the number drops in a few hours, it is the earliest sign of dehydration.
• Look for behavior clues that indicate dehydration like a baby or older child may be more drowsy than usual (early signs of dehydration) and unusual sleepiness is a sign of progressed stages of dehydration.

In case your child shows any of these signs, then call the pediatrician:

• Diarrhea and vomiting continue and get worse.
• Fever lasts more than 3 days.
• Your child has not urinated at least once during every 8 to 12-hour period.
• Mouth and lips look dry.
• A child crying with no tears.
• Blood in the stool.
• Have severe abdominal pain.
• Or when you have any concerns.

These symptoms indicate severe dehydration that needs to be treated with intravenous (IV) fluids, or a bacterial or other GI illness that requires care beyond rehydration.

How long are you contagious?

You can pass stomach flu to others from a few days up to 2 weeks or more. This time depends on which virus is causing your illness. The most common ones are:

1. Norovirus: This is the most common virus that causes gastroenteritis and is very contagious. Its symptoms appear within 1 to 2 days after being exposed to the virus. Most people get better in a day or two after their symptoms begin. They can be contagious for a few days after they recover. This virus can stay in the stool for 2 weeks or more after recovery. Children should stay at home for at least 2 days or more after they last vomit or have diarrhea.
2. Rotavirus: This is another viral gastroenteritis that is common in infants and young children. Its symptoms appear in 1 to 3 days after contact with the virus and can last from 3 to 8 days. Infected patients with this virus are contagious even before the symptoms appear, and they stay contagious for up to 2 weeks after they have recovered.

Several other viruses also cause gastroenteritis, but they are not severe and last for a day or 2.

Gastroenteritis is a common viral infection that affects the intestines. However, with the above-mentioned tips, you can prevent gastroenteritis and keep yourself and others around you healthy and safe.

If you need help with gastroenteritis or any other infectious illness, visit our infectious disease specialist in Brooklyn clinic to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!! Our infectious disease doctors make sure your condition gets diagnosed and treated properly. For more information or to make an appointment, call us to get a consultation. Call us on +1-347-384-5690. If you need any information on infections, log on to www.doralhw.org  get a consultation. We have the best doctors that can help you and improve your quality