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Stomach Flu Symptoms
Your Guide To Symptoms of Stomach Flu & Treatment
Stomach flu symptoms discussed. Complete guide to symptoms of the stomach flu and treatment of the 24 hour vomiting bug.
Symptoms of stomach flu can occur in anyone of any age and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in the elderly, but also in the very young.
Stomach flu (also known as gastric flu, viral gastroenteritis, stomach bug or winter vomiting bug) has a high economic cost mainly because its a leading cause of sickness absence in the work place.
The virus is highly infectious as well as being disabling, with the average
stomach flu duration
lasting anything between 2 to 7 days (although often a 24 hour stomach bug, it takes at least 48 hours to get over the stomach flu symptoms).
The Stomach Flu Symptoms:
What are the symptoms of the 24 hour vomiting bug?
Gastric flu symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and acute diarrhea, often
yellow diarrhea
.
Other symptoms of stomach flu in adults include dizziness, cramps, headache and palpitations caused by dehydration. As previously mentioned, whilst sometimes only a 24 hour illness, the average stomach flu duration is between 2 to 3 days and most stomach flu symptoms normally settle without any need to see a doctor.
What Causes Symptoms?
Stomach or gastric flu is usually caused by a virus known as the Norwalk or Norovirus. Norovirus gastroenteritis commonly occurs in the winter and is commonly known as the ‘winter vomiting virus’, although this can be misleading as it can actually occur at anytime of the year.
Other viruses that can cause the vomiting bug symptoms include rotavirus, astrovirus, adenovirus, small round virus, small round structured viruses and calcivirus. However, it is the Norovirus that is most well known due to its label as the winter vomiting virus.
The average incubation period for these viruses is between 24 to 48 hours before symptoms of stomach flu occur.
Treatment Of Stomach Flu
Treating stomach flu
is usually in the form of conservative measures. The most important
remedy for stomach flu
is in maintaining hydration by keeping a good fluid intake. This is best done with water and electrolyte solutions. Oral rehydration therapy with commercial preparations such as Pedialyte or Dioralyte, which contain rehydration salts, are commonly used in gastric flu.
A good home
stomach flu remedy
for the norovirus is to make your own solution up using sugar, salt and water, all of which are usually readily available in the home.
A teaspoon of table salt, 8-9 teaspoonfuls of sugar mixed in a litre of water is all you need and this can be diluted to taste with juices if required. This should help to improve your stomach flu symptoms.
Rehydration can be difficult particularly when vomiting is the predominant symptom and is the reason why there can be high morbidity and mortality (particularly when no medical services are available) in young children and the elderly who are susceptible to the illness. Hospital admission for rehydration is sometimes necessary, when oral rehydration therapy can be replaced with intravenous fluids.
Avoiding foods and drinks that may worsen symptoms is also a remedy for stomach flu. These include alcohol, coffee and tea (due to caffeine being a gut stimulant), fatty foods and dairy products such as milk and butter.
There aren't any other
stomach flu treatment
options apart from antipyretics such as paracetamol (Acetaminophen)to keep fever down and help with the muscle aches and headache symptoms.
Prevention Of Stomach Flu
The main form of preventing stomach flu is to maintain good hygiene. The vomiting bug is usually spread either by the fecal-oral route usually, due to contamination of food, water or hand to hand contact.
Make sure that good hand hygiene is observed by frequent hand washing, preferably the infected individual having their own toilet and isolated whilst infectious with the gastric flu.
Any Other Questions About These Symptoms?
If you have any other questions about symptoms of the stomach flu or need further advice on
stomach flu remedies
you can always ask the
online doctor service.
I hope you now have a better understanding of the symptoms and the stomach flu symptoms treatment available.
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Vomiting after chinese meal
So my little cousin legacy was all over me during the day with no signs of being sick. We had a lot of close contact throughout the day. We went to a ...
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