Is the culprit in Wangpin's food poisoning case "norovirus"? Doctor: You must do 1 action when you return home during the infectious season, otherwise you may risk "one person getting sick and the whole family getting sick"
Another well-known restaurant is offering food packages! Is the culprit behind this actually “norovirus”?
Taiwan’s food safety crisis keeps rising again and again! Following the bongkrekic acid poisoning incident at “Baolin Tea Room”, two restaurants “Chuwa” and “Xiangla” under the well-known catering group “Wangpin”; and the Japanese restaurant “Zang Sushi” reported food poisoning cases one after another. Among them, Chuwa and Xiangla reported a total of 82 cases, and Zang Sushi received two reports within 11 days. The Xinzhuang and Tamsui branches have been ordered to suspend operations.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, Centers for Disease Control held a regular press conference on the 9th and stated that the recent food poisoning incident at the Wangpin Group, which has attracted widespread attention from all walks of life, preliminary examination of the patients’ samples showed that they were positive for “Norovirus”. Relevant catering operators have also reported clusters of diarrhea. Taiwan Centers for Disease Control also pointed out that the enterovirus epidemic continues to rise across Taiwan. Last week (3/31-4/6), a total of 7,517 enterovirus outpatient and emergency visits were seen in Taiwan, an increase of 9.4% from the previous week (6,872), and the same as in previous years. Compared with the same period in the past ten years, it is still the highest.
What are the symptoms of “viral gastroenteritis”? How to distinguish between 2 types of gastroenteritis?
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control reminds that “viral gastroenteritis” caused by norovirus is highly contagious and is most likely to spread among siblings in families and in places where people have close contact and frequent interactions, such as schools, Daycare classes and childcare centers, etc. Generally speaking, viral gastroenteritis usually presents symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, fever, muscle aches, etc. The incubation period is about 1-3 days, and the symptoms will gradually relieve after 2-3 days.
As for “bacterial gastroenteritis” that tends to be prevalent in summer, it is mostly caused by Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, etc. Common symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, headache and weakness, sometimes accompanied by bloody stools or pus The symptoms may not necessarily occur at the same time, and can last up to 7-10 days, and the incubation period can range from a few hours to 5 days.
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control reminds patients with gastroenteritis to replenish fluids and electrolytes to avoid dehydration and electrolyte deficiency. In addition, do not play or come into contact with other healthy infants, toddlers, children or the elderly in the same room. If you are asymptomatic, you should be quarantined for at least 2 days. Patients should not prepare food for their families. They should not prepare food for their families until they are symptom-free for 2 days. Finally, it is recommended to rest at home and not go to daycare, school or work.
Alcohol and hand drying are of no use to it! If one person gets norovirus, the whole family may get it
Jiang Guanyu, an attending physician at the Department of Integrated Medicine, Taipei City Hospital Zhongxing Branch, once pointed out that in the past three years, due to the epidemic, Taiwanese people have placed too much emphasis on “washing hands with alcohol”. With the outbreak of the norovirus, Taiwanese are reminded that they should gradually develop the habit of “washing hands with soap” The habit of “washing hands”, unenveloped RNA virus particles such as norovirus cannot be dissolved in alcohol and evaporate with the alcohol, so “washing hands with soap” must be the first priority and become a daily routine.
Dr. Jiang Guanyu said that norovirus is extremely stable in the environment; it can resist freezing, heating to 60 degrees Celsius, and chlorine or alcohol disinfection. And because it is particularly active in winter, it is called “Winter Vomiting Disease” and only requires less than 100 virus particles to spread. It is most difficult to prevent in household factories where there are many contacts, and it is easy to cause “one person to get the whole family.” “.
In addition, the incubation period of norovirus can be as long as 24 to 48 hours, and symptoms can last as long as 72 hours or about three days. However, even defecation within 4 weeks of the onset of the disease may still be infectious; more importantly, as long as the watery diarrhea exceeds 3 times a day Next time, we should pay attention to “infectious diarrhea”. Especially for children aged 4-11, all respiratory and digestive tract infectious diseases are “instantly available”, and the incidence rate may increase faster than that of adults.
How to recover from norovirus infection as quickly as possible? Patients must know 6 key points of self-care
Dr. Zheng Hongyan, the attending pediatrician at Shuang Ho Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, also reminded the public that norovirus can be transmitted through contact with excrement, vomitus, contaminated food or water sources. It is extremely contagious, and adults or young children may be infected. , calling on the public to pay more attention to food hygiene.
Dr. Zheng Hongyan emphasized that children’s body water accounts for about 70%. After being infected with acute gastroenteritis, you should pay more attention to dehydration. You can observe whether the skin elasticity decreases or the lips appear chapped. For acute gastroenteritis in children, the first step is to replenish water and electrolytes and follow a light diet. If diarrhea, vomiting and loss of appetite persist, it is recommended to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
Dr. Zheng Hongyan suggested that you should start by paying attention to hand hygiene, wearing a mask and disinfecting frequently, especially when it comes to eating and drinking. You should wash your hands properly after going to the toilet and before eating or preparing food. Pay attention to food hygiene when preparing dishes, handle raw and cooked food separately, and avoid eating undercooked eggs, meat or shellfish and other products, and drinking unboiled or sterilized water.
Source:
Bacterial gastroenteritis - Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare, Centers for Disease Control
Viral gastroenteritis - Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare, Centers for Disease Control
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