The Gwinnett County Health Department is investigating outbreaks of suspected Norovirus at two assisted living facilities in the county.
Alana Sulka, Director of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, says while it’s not unusual to see such an outbreak at an eldercare facility, it is a little late in the year for it to occur.
“It’s called the Winter Vomiting Disease, so generally it starts off towards November and we start see it edging off toward February/March,” she tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
While the department has not yet confirmed the outbreak to be Norovirus, Sulka is advising the same protocol be used at the facilities to deal with it.
“Fortunately the control recommendations for Norovirus will take care of most other pathogens that would be seen in a facility; so we feel like we’re making a good educated guess as to what we can do to control the spread of disease,” she says.
A thorough cleaning is recommended to disinfect the environment using EPA certified cleaners or a bleach solution.
Sulka says typically a person who comes in contact with the illness will begin showing symptoms within a day. The virus usually runs its course in 1-3 days.
But some people never show symptoms at all and that is how the illness can be so easily spread.
And she says don’t think if you’ve already had Norovirus, you can’t get it again.
“Even if they’re a healthy individual with a healthy immunity system, that immunity window usually only last about 30 days and then they can be re-infected or infected with a different strain,” says Sulka.
She offers another warning as well: alcohol-based hand sanitizers do nothing to stop the spread of the disease.
Instead, Sulka advises to constantly wash your hands with soap and water.