Avoid hospital if you’ve got a vomiting bug

3:00pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008 in Rayleigh, Rochford Association of Voluntary Services By Emma Palmer

PEOPLE who are struck down with a vomiting bug this winter are being urged to stay at home to recover and not visit their doctor or A&E to ask for help.

Health chiefs are hammering home the message that normally healthy residents suffering from sickness and diarrhoea needn’t seek professional help and are better off resting in bed.

The advice from primary care trust NHS South West Essex, which provides medical services across Basildon, Billericay and Thurrock, comes as an onset of the winter vomiting bug, norovirus – Britain’s most common cause of infectious gastroenteritis – is expected across the nation.

Although not usually dangerous, the bug can be extremely unpleasant with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, a mild fever, upset stomach, aching limbs and headaches.

However, health experts from the the primary care trust warn that because the virus can spread very quickly only the very young and the elderly, who are at risk of complications, should seek medical attention.

They stress that healthy adults should be able to fight off the bug by resting and drinking fluids.

Samantha Downes, spokes-woman for NHS South West Essex, said: “Unless you are extremely unwell, please don’t go to A&E or your GP.

“You will only help to spread the bug. There is no specific treatment and you will have to let the illness run its course.

“Stay at home, and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. That means regular sips of water or fruit juice, even if you are feeling sick.

“Adults can take dehydration drinks and anti-diarrhoea medicines available from pharmacies. Anti-diarrhoea medicines are not suitable for children.”

People who contract the virus are also advised not to prepare food for others until at least three days after their symptoms go and not to visit friends and family in hospital, who will be vulnerable to infection.

Residents suffering from the bug can get advice from NHS Direct on 0845 4647. You can learn more about the virus and how to treat it at www.nhs.uk

Comments (6)

4:08pm Wed 3 Dec 08

marshman says...

Best advise is do what I do when I'm stricken by the anual bought of bad belly bug. Have another couple of pints of John Smiths (or whatever's your fancy).
Best advise is do what I do when I'm stricken by the anual bought of bad belly bug. Have another couple of pints of John Smiths (or whatever's your fancy). marshman

4:53pm Wed 3 Dec 08

VictoriaLS says...

No mention here of the parents that insist their little one is fine (even though they spend the night throwing up) and bringing them in to nursery/playschool/s
chool - think that's the way that it spreads quicker! Eeeeew I hate it!!!!
No mention here of the parents that insist their little one is fine (even though they spend the night throwing up) and bringing them in to nursery/playschool/s chool - think that's the way that it spreads quicker! Eeeeew I hate it!!!! VictoriaLS

6:32pm Wed 3 Dec 08

Techno says...

The doctors and NHS obviously dont want their highly paid Christmas holidays spoilt by having to look after the peasants who pay their wages. Whatever happened to a fair days pay for a fair days work!
The doctors and NHS obviously dont want their highly paid Christmas holidays spoilt by having to look after the peasants who pay their wages. Whatever happened to a fair days pay for a fair days work! Techno

8:02pm Wed 3 Dec 08

Soozie says...

Stay away from me if you have the vomiting bug.
Stay away from me if you have the vomiting bug. Soozie

8:33pm Wed 3 Dec 08

Francis Grubb says...

Techno wrote:
The doctors and NHS obviously dont want their highly paid Christmas holidays spoilt by having to look after the peasants who pay their wages. Whatever happened to a fair days pay for a fair days work!
No need to be so cynical, Techno! This is all about using common sense to ensure the bug doesn't spread round hospitals, putting the staff out of action (thus stopping them from treating treatable sick folk) and preventing the bug reaching those ultra-vulnerable patients and killing them.

Having lost a relative to a preventable disease in hospital, I applaud this common-sense approach.

Frank
[quote][p][bold]Techno[/bold] wrote: The doctors and NHS obviously dont want their highly paid Christmas holidays spoilt by having to look after the peasants who pay their wages. Whatever happened to a fair days pay for a fair days work![/p][/quote]No need to be so cynical, Techno! This is all about using common sense to ensure the bug doesn't spread round hospitals, putting the staff out of action (thus stopping them from treating treatable sick folk) and preventing the bug reaching those ultra-vulnerable patients and killing them. Having lost a relative to a preventable disease in hospital, I applaud this common-sense approach. Frank Francis Grubb

6:11pm Thu 4 Dec 08

soul man says...

thats common sense, anyway, if you go to hospital these days, your more likely to come back with a bigger bug than you went there with, as lee evans said, they have a phone by the beds, so you can call for an ambulance haha
thats common sense, anyway, if you go to hospital these days, your more likely to come back with a bigger bug than you went there with, as lee evans said, they have a phone by the beds, so you can call for an ambulance haha soul man
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