If your child has the winter vomiting bug, the following steps should help ease your symptoms:
- Ensure they drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
- Give them paracetamol for any fever or aches and pains.
- If you feel like eating, eat foods that are easy to digest.
- Keep your child at home and don't go to the doctor, because norovirus is contagious and there is nothing the doctor can do to treat it.
However, you may wish to visit your GP if your symptoms last longer than a few days.
Extra care should be taken to prevent babies and small children who are vomiting or have diarrhoea from becoming dehydrated by giving them plenty of fluids.
(For pregnant mum, it's important to note that there is no risk to your unborn child if you are pregnant and you get norovirus.)
How to stop it spreading
The virus is easily spread by coming into contact with an infected person, especially through their hands. It can also be caught through eating by consuming contaminated food or drink or by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.
The following should help prevent the spread of the virus:
- Frequent and thorough hand washing
- Do not share towels and flannels.
- Disinfect any surfaces that an infected person has touched.
- Outbreaks in busy places such as hospitals, nursing homes and schools are common because the virus can survive for several days on surfaces or objects touched by an infected person.
