Norovirus: How to deal with the stomach bug as cases rise across Canada
CTV
Cases of norovirus, the bug behind 60 per cent of cases of stomach flu in humans, are on the rise in Canada again after a few quiet years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cases of norovirus, the bug behind 60 per cent of cases of stomach flu in humans, are on the rise in Canada again after a few quiet years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus, affects people of all ages and is typically most active between November and March. It is highly transmissible and common in Canada, so most people here will have experienced an infection at some point in their lives.
Although pandemic-related precautions such as physical distancing, masking and thorough hand hygiene have made outbreaks less common over the last few years, public health experts say the virus is making a comeback this winter.
According to Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases expert at Toronto's University Health Network, norovirus infection rates in Canada right now are typical for the average pre-pandemic winter.
"Throughout 2020, 2021, even parts of 2022, we had school closures, we had business closures, we had stay-at-home orders and we had tremendous attention to sanitation and hygiene," Bogoch told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Thursday.
"But the world today appears to be very similar to pre-pandemic times. There's social gatherings, people are back at work, kids are back at school, people are travelling, and many of the infections that decreased in frequency during 2020 and 2021 have started to re-emerge again."
According to the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), norovirus is highly contagious and has been the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks around the world since 2002.
