Recently, incidents of food poisoning have been reported from time to time. Hundreds of people have been sent to the hospital for treatment.Norovirusis one of the most popular pathogens. As consumers, how can we protect ourselves?
First of all, we suggest that you can start with a professional and reliable information source - 【Disease Control Agency】to obtain the relevant information about Norovirus. After understanding the characteristics of Norovirus, corresponding health protection measures can then be taken. The following table summarizes the key points:
| 【Norovirus】 | |
|---|---|
| symptom | mostly gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps |
| duration | Usually 1-2 days |
| Transmission route | Faecal-oral infection |
| Infectivity | Very strong, only 1~10 virus particles can cause disease. Some people still have the virus in their feces within two weeks after recovery, which is infectious. |
| High-risk groups | Infants, the elderly, those with poor immune function, and those in need of long-term care |
| vaccine | no |
| treatment | Supportive therapy |
According to the above information, there is no "virus-killing" drug to use when being infected with norovirus, but only supportive therapies such as nutritional supplements to help self-recovery.This is why the high-risk groups are: infants and young children, the elderly, those with poor immune function, and those in need of long-term care. There are difficulties in health care, nutritional supplementation, or self-recovery for these people.
So, in the face of norovirus, how to effectively prevent from being infected is the most important issue. So-called"fecal-oral infection" means that the pathogen is shed in the stool of a host and enters the mouth of the next host by some means. But in fact, norovirus is extremely contagious, which does not require a large number of viruses to cause infection.Droplet/Aerosol infectionis also a possible transmission route. Therefore, to achieve effective prevention, the above two transmission paths should be properly blocked. The followings are 5 suggestions fromFood and Drug Control Agency:
Additionally, in order to prevent potential droplet/aerosol infection, please avoid talking or wear a mask when picking up dishes, use serving chopsticks when dining at a table, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, and wear masks in crowded places.
Finally, according to the reminders fromU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.wet hand washing (use soap or other cleansers to clean hands for at least 20 seconds and washout with water)is the most important! Dry hand washing (only use hand sanitizer) can be followed by wet hand washing for an additional cleaning effect, but it is never recommended to "replace" wet hand washing. Besides, don’t hesitate to wash hands. Viruses are easily transmitted through mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tracts.Before touching your eyes, nose and mouth, or before eating, please wash your hands adequately. In addition, in order to protect others, pleasewash your hands after touching a dirty surface, or covering your mouth and nose with your hands when coughing or sneezing, to avoid causing further cross contamination.
【How to Prevent from Norovirus infection】
1. Make sure to have adequate wet hand washing (dry hand washing is a plus).
2. Food materials must be fresh and water must be clean.
3. The handling of raw and cooked food must be separated.
4. Cooked food must be heated thoroughly.
5. The temperature for Food preservation should be less than 7 degrees. And don't preserve food for too long.
6. Avoid talking or wear a mask when picking up dishes.
7. Use serving chopsticks for table sharing.
8. When coughing or sneezing, please lower your head and cover your mouth and nose.
9. Wear a mask in crowded places.
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