At certain times of the year, and especially around the winter months, it seems that there is always a ‘bug’ going around. And when it comes to places like schools and nurseries, it is almost impossible to stop the spread of the highly contagious Norovirus.
Norovirus causes gastroenteritis and those horrible symptoms of nausea, sickness, diarrhoea, tummy ache, often along with a fever and it can cause a highly unpleasant 24-48 hours as your body tries to cleanse it out of its system. Despite the fact it is a distressing bug to catch, it is not serious but as it is highly contagious, it is important to take steps to stop it spreading as well as making sure your child takes time to recover afterwards.
Wash hands
Washing hands is always an important tool in stopping the spread of bugs but in children, not always easy to enforce. Much sure your child adopts a regular hand-washing routine but when they are poorly, it is important that everyone is as meticulous too. Hand sanitisers are useful but not a direct substitute.
Wash towels regularly and consider the use of disposable hand towels whilst the bug is prevalent.
Rest
Rest is the body’s way to recover so don’t fight the need to sleep. It does not matter if your child does nothing for a few days as this will help them feel better sooner.
Don’t worry too much about breaking routine – everything will soon get on track after recovery.
Food and drink
Replace fluids with plain drinks such as water but if you are struggling to get even that down your child, substitute with ice cubes to suck on.
When food is reintroduced, make sure it is bland such as bread, rice and bananas, even if they suddenly crave sweet stuff and stodgy foods.
Take a vitamin to help replace any lost nutrients and restore energy.