Huge rise in UK cases of 'winter vomiting bug' prompts urgent warning
Norovirus case rates remain on the rise this winter as the vomiting bug spreads with an urgent warning issued by health chiefs.
This week the country has shivered through snow and ice as temperatures plummeted well below freezing. As the weather turns colder, it also creates ideal conditions for diseases like Covid, flu and norovirus to spread. Every winter the NHS sees case rates for such diseases spike and this year is no different.
According to the latest numbers released by the UK Health Security Agency, norovirus rates have spiked on the seasonal average. They are 48 per cent higher than the five-season average for the same two week period, health chiefs admitted. Alongside that, infections are high amongst all age groups but remain particularly prevalent amongst adults aged 65 and older.
Epidemiologists at the UKHSA have cautioned Brits to take the necessary steps to cut the spread of the disease. Amy Douglas, norovirus epidemiologist, said: "The latest data show that norovirus cases were nearly 50% higher than average for this point in the season. We have also been seeing higher levels of other gastrointestinal infections, such as shiga toxin-producing E.coli.
"If you have got diarrhoea and vomiting, you can take steps to avoid passing the infection on. Do not return to work, school or nursery until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped and don’t prepare food for others in that time either. If you are unwell, avoid visiting people in hospitals and care homes to prevent passing on the infection in these vulnerable settings.
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"Washing your hands with soap and warm water and using bleach-based products to clean surfaces will also help stop infections from spreading. Alcohol gels do not kill norovirus so don’t rely on these alone."
This comes as the Covid picture this winter remains a surprisingly positive one when compared to previous years - even amongst the Juno outbreak. After a peak in December, Covid rates have continually decreased across most indicators since, and are still doing so.
There’s not only less Covid going round, but fewer Brits are in hospital and dying from it. The North West has the highest hospital admission rate for Covid patients currently, at 6.48 per 100,000 people. As things stand, 7,845,695 people aged 65 years or older have been vaccinated with the autumn booster, this totals around 70.3 per cent of that population.
Another reason why the continually falling Covid figures are a cause for good news is because it was feared that festive socialising and mixing over Christmas would lead to a spike in rates. However, three weeks on, there's no sign of that manifesting in the data.
This comes after data published by the World Health Organisation revealed that the Covid vaccination programme saved around 400,000 lives in England up to March of last year. Due to the life-saving jab, in the UK mortality was reduced in our eldest, after they caught Covid, by 71 per cent. Thanks to the early implementation of the vaccine programme the UK was amongst the countries that benefited the most.
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said: “Today, there are more than 1.4 million people in our Region [Europe] – most of them elderly – enjoying life with their loved ones because they took the vital decision to be vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s nearly 1.5 million people who can play with their grandchildren, walk the dog, attend dance classes, volunteer and be active members of their communities. This is the power of vaccines,”.
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