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Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Wash hands to avoid Norwalk virus
NEW YORK, New York (CNN) -- Some passengers and crew members on at least two cruise ships recently have suffered from gastrointestinal illness caused by Norwalk virus, and the virus is also suspected in an outbreak on a third ship. Norwalk virus is an infection with an estimated 181,000 cases every year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's typically marked by vomiting and diarrhea. CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke Tuesday to CNN Anchor Daryn Kagan about the virus' symptoms and ways to prevent catching it. GUPTA: This Norwalk virus, if you've got it, you're going to know it. ... This is a real problem. Let's take a quick look at some of the symptoms ... these patients had when they were going on a cruise: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headaches, low-grade fever. Not my idea of a good time. One of the most common causes of stomach sickness is nonbacterial. [The Norwalk virus] is a very common virus. [It] and Norwalk-like viruses are some of the most common causes of all those symptoms. Let's examine some of the ways that it's actually transmitted: • Person to person. Confined environments like a cruise ship, like a nursing home, like schools -- these are some of the most common places you actually see this virus. • Sharing food, water, utensils, eating. • Drinking contaminated foods or beverages. Those are all some of the ways that you can actually spread this thing. Again, on a cruise ship, you're really confined there from seven to 15 days sometimes. It's not uncommon to actually have those numbers go up if that's the case. KAGAN: So [for] Norwalk virus, [there's] no better place to go on vacation than a cruise ship. GUPTA: That's right. The Norwalk virus is having a good time, but maybe not the people. KAGAN: All right, what if you're a passenger? How can you avoid it, if you decide, if you even show up at the ship -- they tell you, "We've had this problem. We think our ship is clean." You decide to take your chances. ... Once you're on board, what should you do? GUPTA: Well, a couple of things. First of all, with regard to these cruise ships, what we're hearing most commonly is that they're not from contaminated food or water. So the cruise ship industry, as far as that goes, is pretty safe. This appears to be person-to-person contamination, most commonly from actually putting your hands into your mouth after touching a surface that's been contaminated. Frequent and thorough hand washing is the key [to prevention]. ... You're going to see that message over and over and over again. Wash your hands. It's pretty easy. It might prevent you from getting really sick. Wiping your hands off, keeping hands away from the mouth -- those are all good ways to keep safe -- simple advice. And we actually asked the CDC people: Is it really that easy, just wash your hands? Is it going to be that simple to try and avoid this Norwalk virus? And they said, yes. That's going to decrease your risk of actually picking it up or transmitting it about 90 [percent] to 95 percent of the time. KAGAN: OK, what are the chances, perhaps you haven't been that good about washing your hands, you get it? And if we see 180,000 cases, we're not just talking cruise ships here. Other folks across the country are going to get it. GUPTA: That's right. Right. Exactly. KAGAN: But if you get it, are you just stuck? You have to play it out? Or is there anything you can do? GUPTA: For the most part, you're going to have to play it out. This is a virus. This isn't a bacteria. You can't treat this with antibiotics. It's going to run its course, usually two to three days. Now you will still be infected and possibly even contagious for up to two weeks. For most people, it's just going to be an annoying troublesome nuisance of two to three days. Stay hydrated during that time. For people who are frail or elderly, dehydration can really be a problem. It's a little bit more serious for those folks. But most people just sort of bear through it. KAGAN: Just bear through it on the high seas. GUPTA: Exactly.
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