Norovirus more common than you might think

Norovirus causes 21 million illnesses nationwide every year. The most recent outbreak in Central Oregon happened last week at Stone Lodge Retirement Community.

“It happens every year all over,” Heather Kaisner, communicable disease supervisor at Deschutes County Public Health said Monday.

Retirement communities are common places for infection to occur.

“Last week, we had several residents come down with symptoms similar to a stomach illness,” said Brian Fawkes of Holiday Retirement, the parent company of Stone Lodge.

An infection becomes an outbreak when two or more people show similar symptoms in a confined area during a short period of time. Norovirus does not need to be reported to public health, but many times it is.

“We’ve had quite a few norovirus outbreaks, kind of since November,” Kaisner said. “It’s a winter disease.”

Data from the Oregon Health Authority shows in 2014, there were three outbreaks in Deschutes County retirement homes. There were 130 statewide.

“Those can range from three cases to 30 cases,” Kaisner said.

A total of 41 people in all were infected last year in Deschutes County. So far, there’s only one confirmed case from the most recent outbreak at Stone Lodge.

“So fecal-oral (contamination) is how it’s spread,” Kaisner said.

The virus can live on surfaces, and many times comes from contaminated food sources. It spreads quickly and easily.

“We need to close down our kitchen and completely disinfect it,” Fawkes said over the weekend.

The facility also will shut down and disinfect common areas,, among other communicable disease protocols, to make sure no one else gets it.

“The symptoms are lots of diarrhea, lots of vomiting — and it comes on fast,” Kaisner said.

It only lasts up to 48 hours, but it can be taxing on the body, especially the elderly. Nationwide, it kills up to 800 people every year.

Kaisner says during her tenure in Deschutes County, no one has died from norovirus

Learn more here: https://public.health.oregon.gov/DiseasesConditions/DiseasesAZ/Pages/disease.aspx?did=110

And at: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/