Episode 144: Things could get real poopy! Sorry, girl: Norovirus “stomach flu’ is here & it’s the devil

The stomach flu, which causes intense but sorta short episodes of vomiting and diarrhea — with or without a brief period of fever, chills, and body aches — is spreading rapidly. Seriously, wash your dang hands: Norovirus is primarily spread when traces of a sick person’s poop or vomit sneak into our mouths via our hands or food they’ve prepared. However, the virus also spreads through aerosols that hang around after someone pukes, so masking in public bathrooms is not the worst idea, either. In this episode Dr. Oakley & Holly will go over some tips to survive this awful bug, like: Staying hydrated is key: While nauseated, sip water or an electrolyte drink every 15 to 30 minutes, and if you feel like lying down afterward, prop yourself up to reduce reflux. There’s no need to slam a liter of fluid at a time — you just want to get enough in to produce some urine at least every six hours. Wait until you have an appetite to start eating solids, and start with bland foods like bananas and dry toast. Alcohol-based sanitizer doesn’t kill norovirus all that well, so clean your hands with soap and water. And clean shared surfaces with a bleach-based product — only a few virus particles are needed to cause infection, and it can live for weeks on surfaces, so be as thorough as you can. If you develop bloody diarrhea, you can’t keep enough fluids down to make some urine, or your symptoms last longer than three days, it’s time to seek medical care. Thank you for listening. Please send in your comments, questions and suggestions for future topics at TheLadyBodPod.com