Stomach bug going around?!
Question:
Stomach bug going around?
I work at a place with the mentally/physically handicapped. Last week I had a weird stomach and didn't eat for about a week, and now I moved to another place, where a stomach thing is going around and one of the guys threw up today in class, and I am so paranoid im going to get it. Some of the workers got it, but only one threw up. I don't puke often (10 years ago was my last time) Does the bug effect people differently? Does me being around him mean im going to get sick too? I know this is really dumb to ask, but I am just paranoid as hell, any input would be good
Answers:
Viral gastroenteritis is caused by the ingestion of a virus. Same for bacterial gastroenteritis caused by giardiasis or cryptosporidosis, etc.
For that reason, it spreads like wildfire in nursing homes, group homes, etc. Furthermore it spreads through fecal-oral routes which means that people who don't wash their hands very well after using the restroom, can spread it very easily. Just do the math on that kind of a problem, and couple it with large volume food preparation that may include touching of food by an infected person, and suddenly it can produce a huge outbreak.
Watch out for those door handles and basically anything that anyone else touches. Especially around the bathrooms!
As far as being around a guy who puked in class, see how it goes, you will know soon. Not very likely though.
It does affect people differently and with different levels of severity. Usually you'll feel better quickly, but that's deceiving because you can infect others for a while longer. It seems to spread in 3 day increments in households and other settings, because a person feels better in a day, maybe two on the outside, but remains infectious to others for a while longer. Plus it lives for a while in the environment so it can linger on doorknobs or anything else that people touch.
The US CDC has a good amount of information on this. Just query "stomach flu" and you'll find good information.