Highly contagious stomach virus spreading in El Paso: what you need to know 

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) — Norovirus, often referred to as the winter stomach bug or stomach flu, spreads easily through contaminated food, surfaces, and person-to-person contact.  

ABC-7 spoke to Dr. Armando Meza, chief of infectious diseases at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, who explained norovirus is resistant to most of the usual medications and substances that we use to clean our hands, like hand sanitizer - making outbreaks more common. 

“When a patient is sick, they can be throwing up or they can have diarrhea and those secretions are contaminated with the virus,” explained Meza. “So other people get exposed to those secretions and they get infected themselves. And that's how pretty much the cycle of a spread happens.”

Washing your hands with soap and water is the best preventative measure, “Most of the outbreak, start in at homes where all the family members get sick and then they spread to the outside,” Meza said.

Dr. Meza says symptoms can appear within hours or days, “It depends on the amount of virus that is on that surface. If there is a large amount, it happens very quickly. If it's a very small amount, it takes some time for your body to multiply these viruses within your body so you can have symptoms.”

Symptoms can include: 

• Nausea  
• Vomiting  
• Diarrhea  
• Stomach cramps  
• Fever  
• Headache  
• Body aches  

There is no specific treatment for norovirus, as the body must fight it off on its own. Dr. Meza recommends staying hydrated by drinking electrolyte-rich fluids and eating easy-to-digest foods such as crackers, bananas, and broth.

Most cases last one to two days, but those infected are contagious for as long as symptoms persist.  

If symptoms last more than 2-3 days or if you are not retaining any liquids, it is important to seek medical attention. “If you're having a lot of nausea and vomiting and you're losing fluids, you can get dehydrated,” emphasized Meza. “The way you know you're dehydrated is obviously you feel dizzy, your blood pressure drops, you are not making a lot of urine or you simply feel that you know something is not normal, that's a good, indication that you need to go and see someone for help.”

Dr. Meza notes the virus can last on surfaces for days. If you or someone at home gets sick, make sure to disinfect surfaces with a bleach-based cleaner and wash contaminated laundry immediately.

He also notes that masks are not necessary in this case, “It's really a gastrointestinal, virus so it doesn't really spread through breathing or anything like that,” Meza emphasized. He says personal hygiene and limiting exposure are the best preventative measures.