Norovirus Infections

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

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• Children
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Noroviruses are a group of related viruses. Infection with these viruses causes an illness called gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It can spread from person to person, or through contaminated food or water. You can also get it if you touch a contaminated surface. Norovirus can be serious, especially for young children and older adults.

The most common symptoms of norovirus infection are:

• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stomach pain

Other symptoms may include fever, headache or body aches.

Treatment includes bed rest and lots of liquids to prevent dehydration. There is no specific medicine to treat norovirus infections.

Proper hand washing and safe food preparation may help prevent infections.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Start Here

• Norovirus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Norovirus Infection (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Symptoms

• Norovirus Symptoms (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bacteria Culture Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Stool Tests (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Hand Washing: Do's and Dont's (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Preventing Norovirus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Norovirus Treatment (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Norovirus: Facts for Food Workers (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF

Specifics

• Facts about Noroviruses on Cruise Ships (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Statistics and Research

• Norovirus Burden and Trends (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Gastroenteritis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Norovirus (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Crystal Structure of Inhibitor-Bound GII.4 Sydney 2012 Norovirus 3C-Like Protease.
• Article: Norovirus-Associated Gastroenteritis Vesikari Score and Pre-Existing Salivary IgA in Young Children...
• Article: Prevalence and Characterization of Gastroenteritis Viruses among Hospitalized Children during a...
• Norovirus Infections -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish

Children

• Collecting a Stool Sample for Testing (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Norovirus (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Norovirus - hospital (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Norovirus Illness: Key Facts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF