A little background--my kids are 8 yo and 5 yo, and both of them are in school, so both are pretty regularly exposed to germs. I am currently living in an emet's nightmare, and I want to know if you all think this is the same virus that just won't leave, or a couple of different bugs.

Two weeks ago, my 5 yo daughter woke up sick about 3am on Sunday. She v'd a couple of times in the bed, I showered her and cleaned up with bleach and Lysol products. She went back to sleep and slept about 5 hours straight. When she woke up, she was running a 101-102 fever and complaining of a headache, which we treated with Tylenol and Pedialyte. By that evening, she was taking Pedialyte well and eating crackers. She woke up fever free on Monday but still had no appetite. She had another v*episode on Tuesday night after drinking a glass of milk, and then 2 d* episodes on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, her appetite was back full force and her poo was normal. During this same period, my son had a headache and low-grade fever one day, but no v* or d*. His symptoms resolved into nasal congestion/cold symptoms by Thursday evening. Nobody else had any symptoms.

Fast forward to this past Friday, 11 days after my daughter's first v* incident. My son came home from school with a stomachache, fatigue, and "acid burps" (which I take to mean some kind of reflux). He had a violent v* episode that evening, around 9 pm. No fever, no headache. He slept the night through, and his appetite was back by midday Saturday. One episode of d* early Saturday morning, and then nothing since.

As an aside, two of my son's friends were sick with the same symptoms during the EXACT same timeframe--v* on Friday night, feeling wonderful by mid-day Saturday. So obviously it's going around.

Initially, we thought he'd caught the same bug my daughter had. Maybe not here at home, but more likely that he'd picked it up at school, the same place his friends caught it. There's been loads of kids out sick recently with it. We kept our kids separated all day Saturday, but then let them play a board game together on Saturday night..right around 36 hours ago.

This morning (Monday), my daughter woke up with a stomachache and vile-smelling burps. She drank a little water and nibbled some toast, then had a violent v* episode. No fever or other symptoms so far, but it's early. (Additionally, I was right next to her when it happened and I am so paranoid that inhaled some particles. Usually I try to be either across the room or let my husband stay with the sick child, but he's at work this morning so that's not possible).

Does she have the same bug again? Can she catch it again 2 weeks after having it? Or is it a 2nd virus? HELP!!

Trust me when I say I have cleaned like a fiend. I shower my children after every v* episode, and nobody else is allowed in the sick bathroom until I have cleaned with bleach. My husband and I wash our hands constantly. I will say that my son (8yo) is not always the best handwasher and I have to nag him to do it, so it's possible that he didn't wash well enough after using the toilet on Saturday morning and then touched some surface that my daughter also touched--a handrail or a wall or something. I didn't know he'd had d* until he told me, around 9 am Saturday--according to him, it happened when it was still dark, so sometime prior to 6:30 am, and he didn't want to wake anyone up by telling them--and by that point my daughter was awake too. Not in the bathroom or anything, but she'd been in the hallway near the bathroom, and there's no telling what all he touched. Or she could have (somehow) caught it off him when they played the board game Saturday night. The timing is right as far as a 36 hour incubation, but by that point he'd had another shower and no more incidents since early in the morning, so who knows?

Thoughts? I'm losing it over here, thinking I've got this crazy sv I just can't get out of my house. Surely, though, my daughter wouldn't be able to catch the same bug again 2 weeks later? It's got to be a second virus, right? Or are we just this unlucky??

BTW--my kids have just over one week of school left. If it weren't for all the super fun activities coming up, I'd totally just keep them home from here on and let them start their summer early. I am so OVER the germs.