Noroviruses are a cause of viral gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It can spread from person to person, or through contaminated food or water. The most common symptoms of norovirus infection are: diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, stomach pain, fever, headache and body aches. Treatment includes bed rest and lots of liquids to prevent dehydration. There is no specific medicine to treat norovirus infections.
Norovirus infection is associated with approximately 90% of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis worldwide, in people of all ages. It has been estimated to cause >200,000 deaths each year in developing countries.3 Although the virus is highly contagious, volunteer and field studies have shown that a subset of individuals are resistant to infections[1, 3]. People who had a variant of the FUT2 gene, rs601338 did not express a protein required for Norwalk virus binding and did not develop an infection after challenge with the virus, regardless of dose. 3
Related to:
Norwalk virus, viral gastroenteritis, food poisoning, winter vomiting bug