While everyone is thinking about the flu this winter, there is a new strain of norovirus is on the rise. The new strain which was detected last year in Australia, has reached the United States and Canada.

This may have been the terrible bug that hit my household recently – first my eldest, then a few days later, my youngest and then me. It was the most awful, horrid stomach bug I’d ever experienced.

Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pains. Norovirus is often referred to the stomach flu but it’s unrelated to influenza – I just call it the nasty stomach bug. We also had medium to high fevers along with the vomiting – lovely, I know.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the norovirus causes about 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths each year, mostly in young children and the elderly.

This virus is extremely contagious so if you have it, stay home. People are most contagious when they experience symptoms and during the first three days after recovery, reports the CDC.

This highly contagious virus is one of the few that you can actually catch from the toilet seat or even from the air in the bathroom if someone ill has just used it!

There is no treatment or vaccine against norovirus so prevention is key. To help prevent contamination, the CDC recommends the following tips:

• Wash your hands
• Wash fruits and vegetables and cook seafood thoroughly
• When you are sick, do not prepare food or care for others
• Clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces
• Wash laundry thoroughly.

Stay healthy!