MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Across the country, outbreaks of norovirus are spiking. The virus is a form of food poisoning. It's the most common cause of gastrointestinal illness, and it spreads very fast. NPR's Yuki Noguchi joins us now to tell us more about all this. Good morning, Yuki.
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Maybe put the oatmeal down for a couple of minutes while we talk about this. How is this virus suddenly spreading so quickly?
NOGUCHI: Yeah. A big part of that is that we're not washing our hands enough, and norovirus spreads very quickly and easily, as you said. You know, if you've ever had it, you know, it's pretty miserable and can rip through your entire household within days. And there's no vaccine or medicine to treat it. You know, it starts with infected feces or vomit that might, you know, splash on something or make its way to a sick, you know, through a sick person's hands or go through a surface like a kitchen counter. So often the vehicle for transmission is something raw, like produce or shellfish, or also just human contact. And the problem is that even tiny, tiny particles of it can make a person sick. You know, so that's why once there's an outbreak, it can be very, very difficult to contain.
MARTIN: Well, I'm having flashbacks here because, yes, we have been visited by this virus at various points. Won't go into details. Where is it most likely to spread?
NOGUCHI: You know, where you're in close quarters and where people eat. So you're seeing this on cruise ships right now, which saw five worsening outbreaks in December alone. Other common places, you know, include hospitals or long-term care facilities, daycares, restaurant kitchens, you know, places like that. And every year, about 900 people die from norovirus, and you know, most of them are older or have weaker immune systems.
MARTIN: So outbreaks are particularly high right now. Do we know why?
NOGUCHI: It's really surged in the two weeks since Thanksgiving, which is the most recent data available. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks these incidents through the help of state and local health departments. But obviously, not every case gets reported, but the data is still a good barometer of the spread. And Dr. Celine Gounder is an infectious disease specialist and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. And she says, again, the difference is hand-washing, and we used to be better about that.
CELINE GOUNDER: We did see gastroenteritis of different kinds go down during the pandemic because people were also hand-washing. And then, once there was a return to sort of more normal disgusting behavior, we saw it go up again.
NOGUCHI: And she says the recent spike is also probably because of holiday travel and get-togethers where families share food and viruses. In fact, Gounder herself got norovirus over the holidays at a family gathering.
MARTIN: So if there's no cure or vaccine to prevent it, what should people be doing to protect themselves?
NOGUCHI: Well, it's very sneaky. So, you know, you can infect people even before you have symptoms, and it can remain in your digestive system for two weeks or more. And notably, you know, hand sanitizer - which we used to rely on a lot - alone is sometimes not enough to kill it. So really, the best way to prevent its spread is hand-washing with soap and water, especially before cooking or taking a pill or caring for someone.
And the CDC recommends that if you do get sick, you know, do not handle food or medicines until at least 48 hours after symptoms have subsided.
MARTIN: Oh, that's good information. That is NPR's Yuki Noguchi. Yuki, thank you.
NOGUCHI: Thank you.
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