Reassure me please!

[Leslie735]

It seems like everytime I am having a "good stretch" where I'm not stressing about the sv* something happens to cause me to stress. My family had the sv* back at the end of September so ever since I've had my guard down a little since we had it. Well I babysitt out of my home and one of the Moms came to pick up her son earlier (he's almost 2) and she told me her husband went home from work sick today. I immediately freaked out b/c the toddler will be coming tomorrow and he usually brings him. Thing is, they all caught the same bug we had a few days after we had it so why is he sick again? I was under the impression your immune for a while, it's only been a little over a month since we all had it. Should I be worried???? I'm especially freaked b/c Saturday I'm having a bunch of people over for my sons birthday party. HELP!

[daffodil]

Nah, try not to freak out. Its really unlikely he caught it again so soon.

[JasonJ]

Best thing you can do is keep all of your surfaces wiped down and cleaned, they say that the virus can't be transmitted by being near someone that's infected and whatnot. I wouldn't be ridiculously worried about it as long as you keep everything clean and wash your hands often.

[AnxiousCanuck]

Did she specify how he was sick? You have to remember that non-emets most often refer to things as either a cold, or the flu. Two terms, that is it. So, when someone says they have the flu, I always ask them to specify, for my own peace of mind. With that being said, chances are that he is down with something else, maybe influenza, or maybe he ate something that isn't agreeing with him. Either way, there is no need to panic. Even IF he did have the same sv* again, having his son over won't be an issue as long as the child does not v* near you, and you keep your hands out of your mouth all day. If you do that, it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to contract Noro.

Best of luck, and always remember..."this too shall pass"

[Leslie735]

Thanks everyone! She didn't tell me how he was sick but I know her VERY well (were best friends) and she said he is sick "again" and by that I know what she means b/c it seems he gets "sick" often. What concerns me is I thought you were immune to the sv* for like 4 months after you've had it. If he has it again that throws that theory out the window.

[JasonJ]

Depends on his immune system too, if he gets sick often then apparently that theory just doesn't apply to him. Also, even if it isn't Noro, some people are so "okay" with v*ing (or just don't hate it), they'll just allow it or even induce it to relieve themselves at the slightest upset of the belly. Us on the other hand, we'll sit there with an upset belly for a week just to make sure that never happens. Either way, as long as you don't touch something that a sick kid at the party touches, then lick your fingers, you're not going to catch any sv* from them. Enjoy the party

[AnxiousCanuck]

Actually, according to my own personal research and the first hand information I've received from various doctors and scientists, you're in fact only immune for approx 2 weeks after having Noro. Certain people, depending on their own immune system and even their blood type, can allow for immunity up to 6 months. However, for the average person, it is 2 weeks.

[Leslie735]

Actually, according to my own personal research and the first hand information I've received from various doctors and scientists, you're in fact only immune for approx 2 weeks after having Noro. Certain people, depending on their own immune system and even their blood type, can allow for immunity up to 6 months. However, for the average person, it is 2 weeks.

Seriously? 2 weeks! I've had my guard down BIG time since we had it back in September thinking I was good until 1st of January. :/

[JasonJ]

Well, think about it this way. The immunity to it could be only 2 hours and you'd still be safe from it as long as you kept your hands clean and whatnot before touching your face. As long as your mouth isn't touching anything that's been touched by someone's v* or d*, you'll be fine. I guess that's the one silver lining of having to deal with being an emetophobe at this time of year.

[Leslie735]

Well, think about it this way. The immunity to it could be only 2 hours and you'd still be safe from it as long as you kept your hands clean and whatnot before touching your face. As long as your mouth isn't touching anything that's been touched by someone's v* or d*, you'll be fine. I guess that's the one silver lining of having to deal with being an emetophobe at this time of year.

See I don't think of it that way. The way I think of it, if the Dad really has it again, even if his son doesn't he's walking in my house, he could touch my door knob, the baby's diaper bag, his bottle etc. Then I give that bottle to the baby, he has it on his hands he runs around my house touching my kids toys, my kid picks up that toy, plays with it, then goes and eats something w/o washing his hands. I do my best but I can't think of everything. What am I suppose to do wash the diaper bag? I know crazy but it's how I think of it. I can't clean every inch of every single thing the Dad has touched, what if it's on the bottom of his shoes and he walks on my floors, then I walk over it and later scratch my foot and then eat something with my hand. You see what I"m saying? When we caught it in September, my 2 sons were sick before I was. I was SOOOO careful, washed my hands, bleached, lysoled sprayed etc. I did not eat with my hands for several days and I still somehow caught it.

[JasonJ]

Honestly I don't know how people think we're crazy, to me that sounds like a legitimate chain of events that could happen and I can completely understand the worry. At the same time though, the odds of those things happening really isn't that high. But I'm sure if I were in your shoes I'd be thinking the same things, it's always easier to be optimistic when you're not the one in the situation. As far as catching it from your sons after cleaning everything that much, I can't imagine how that happened. From what I hear they're going to have a vaccine for it in 2014, if we're lucky and a bunch of non-emets try it first and have success, our lives are going to be SO much easier.

[AnxiousCanuck]

If your children were sick with it, it is much harder to protect yourself because I am sure you stayed with them while they were getting sick. If so, that creates the aerosol spray which you likely inhaled in. I don't have children, but I have a nephew who spends a lot of time at our house. I bought a box of masks, the same ones you see on TV when there is an outbreak of some new virus. I have them mounted on the wall inside the closet in front of my bathroom. This ensures that IF my nephew were to become ill at my place, I can be there for him and not have to worry about aerosol contamination.

Daycare centers are notorious for Norovirus, mainly because children are too young to understand the concept of germs and there is nothing you can do to prevent those germy little hands from spending half the day in their mouths. So, your best bet, would be to prepare yourself and your home for the off chance it does occur. If you wear a mask while tending to your sick child, and be sure to clean the bathrooms and other common areas, wash your clothes and your childs clothes on heavy duty, and never put your hands in your mouth, it is quite literally impossible to contract it.

Also, I want to remind you that yes, the Dad may have an sv*, but there are other viruses that cause v*. They are all considered "Norwalk Type Viruses", but they aren't Norovirus. While these are often harder to catch and only make up a very small percentage of illness causing v*, it is very likely that he has something different. Maybe he ate a steak and got e coli. It is impossible to know, so just follow a strict sanitation process and you will be golden.

@Jason A bit of info on the vaccine. First round of human trials has ended and proved successful, HOWEVER, to an emet, the results are definitely not successful. Let me explain. In the first human trials they proved that the vaccine they are currently testing DID decrease the number of participants who got sick after being exposed to Noro, HOWEVER, most of them still got it. While it cut down transmission by about 50%, that is not a great number when it comes to vaccines. Another important part was that they did discover that those who were exposed, given the vaccine, and got sick, had much less severe symptoms than those who got the placebo vaccine.

So, for me, it sounds promising and I'd definitely get it, even if it only reduced my chances by 50%, but unless those numbers grow significantly, I fear that once it is given to the general public, our quality of life is not going to change much. Unless the vaccine protects you 100% of the time, we will all continue to live in fear.

Also, it is NOT being released in 2014. As of now the company is beginning their second human trials has stated that it will be ready for the general population by 2015 IF their results continue to rise. Because the numbers weren't nearly where they wanted them to be, they've begun testing two other versions of a vaccine in hopes that they will test better than the first. Either way, I think we will see a vaccine that protects us in our lifetime, however, I highly doubt it'd ever be 100% protection. I think it will be much like the flu shot. The flu shot doesn't protect you 100%, it simply reduces your chances of catching it, and if you do catch it, it reduces the severity of symptoms. I think that is about all we have to hope for. Yes it will help us chill out a bit, but not completely.

[AnxiousCanuck]

If your children were sick with it, it is much harder to protect yourself because I am sure you stayed with them while they were getting sick. If so, that creates the aerosol spray which you likely inhaled in. I don't have children, but I have a nephew who spends a lot of time at our house. I bought a box of masks, the same ones you see on TV when there is an outbreak of some new virus. I have them mounted on the wall inside the closet in front of my bathroom. This ensures that IF my nephew were to become ill at my place, I can be there for him and not have to worry about aerosol contamination.

Daycare centers are notorious for Norovirus, mainly because children are too young to understand the concept of germs and there is nothing you can do to prevent those germy little hands from spending half the day in their mouths. So, your best bet, would be to prepare yourself and your home for the off chance it does occur. If you wear a mask while tending to your sick child, and be sure to clean the bathrooms and other common areas, wash your clothes and your childs clothes on heavy duty, and never put your hands in your mouth, it is quite literally impossible to contract it.

Also, I want to remind you that yes, the Dad may have an sv*, but there are other viruses that cause v*. They are all considered "Norwalk Type Viruses", but they aren't Norovirus. While these are often harder to catch and only make up a very small percentage of illness causing v*, it is very likely that he has something different. Maybe he ate a steak and got e coli. It is impossible to know, so just follow a strict sanitation process and you will be golden.

@Jason A bit of info on the vaccine. First round of human trials has ended and proved successful, HOWEVER, to an emet, the results are definitely not successful. Let me explain. In the first human trials they proved that the vaccine they are currently testing DID decrease the number of participants who got sick after being exposed to Noro, HOWEVER, most of them still got it. While it cut down transmission by about 50%, that is not a great number when it comes to vaccines. Another important part was that they did discover that those who were exposed, given the vaccine, and got sick, had much less severe symptoms than those who got the placebo vaccine.

So, for me, it sounds promising and I'd definitely get it, even if it only reduced my chances by 50%, but unless those numbers grow significantly, I fear that once it is given to the general public, our quality of life is not going to change much. Unless the vaccine protects you 100% of the time, we will all continue to live in fear.

Also, it is NOT being released in 2014. As of now the company is beginning their second human trials has stated that it will be ready for the general population by 2015 IF their results continue to rise. Because the numbers weren't nearly where they wanted them to be, they've begun testing two other versions of a vaccine in hopes that they will test better than the first. Either way, I think we will see a vaccine that protects us in our lifetime, however, I highly doubt it'd ever be 100% protection. I think it will be much like the flu shot. The flu shot doesn't protect you 100%, it simply reduces your chances of catching it, and if you do catch it, it reduces the severity of symptoms. I think that is about all we have to hope for. Yes it will help us chill out a bit, but not completely.

-Canuck

[MaybeBaby]

I have read extensively about it as well. 14 weeks is more like the number that MOST articles say you are immune. That's about how long it takes to mutate to a different strain. Why scare people like that? Yeah you can get a DIFFERENT strain 2 weeks later, but that's incredibly unlikely.

[MaybeBaby]

I mean immunity to the specific strain you were sick with originally. You can catch a completely different strain 2 weeks later, but that's incredibly unlikely. Maybe if you go to a different geographical location where it has a mutated strain going around.

[Leslie735]

Ok just making sure I have this right. You are immune to the strain you just had for about 14 weeks, but you can catch a different strain at anytime. That is what I thought but AnxiousCanuck said you are only immune for what you JUST had for 2 weeks.

[MaybeBaby]

From what I have read... and through my personal experience. The first time my daughter had noro she was 18 months old. It was awful. We got it on the same night. Then my dad got it, then his girlfriend, then her son, then her daughter and on and on. It went through my town like crazy. No one ever caught it a second time from anyone. Even though my daughter and I were at people's houses after they had just had it.

[Leslie735]

From what I have read... and through my personal experience. The first time my daughter had noro she was 18 months old. It was awful. We got it on the same night. Then my dad got it, then his girlfriend, then her son, then her daughter and on and on. It went through my town like crazy. No one ever caught it a second time from anyone. Even though my daughter and I were at people's houses after they had just had it.

Thank you!