Doctors warn about stomach bug that hand sanitizer is not effective against

Norovirus is a stomach virus that has sent people across the nation to the ER, and local officials say this area is not excluded.

ICare Medical Director Matthew Zajdel said, “We're starting to see an increase in cases across the United States and locally.”

Doctors said they are seeing more cases, but the worst may have passed.

Conemaugh Department of Emergency Medicine Chairman Matthew Perry said, “We've seen an uptick in general of the GI bug. More so a few weeks ago to about a month ago.”

Healthcare providers say norovirus is like the flu, but more intense and with more physical symptoms, such as nausea.

Doctors said hand sanitizer is not effective against norovirus. Washing hands with soap and water, and cleaning surfaces with bleach products are the best ways to defend against the norovirus.

Zajdel and Perry both said another effective way to stop the spread is avoiding people who are sick and sick individuals staying away from others.

Doctors said norovirus is not only contracted from other people.

“The most important thing is washing fruits and vegetables as well as cooking shellfish,” Zajdel said. “It is one of the most common food-born illnesses in the United States.”

Perry said, “We managed each patient individually. Manage their clinical symptoms. Order laboratory studies and imaging as necessary. Provide them anti-nausea medicines, and IV fluids for hydration.”

Doctors also warn about another stomach bug called shigella, which has increasingly become drug resistant and .5% of cases last year were "untreatable."

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfmbykwM6rqmavkae7bq3BqKytZaOpvK6twqFkm62XYsGprdNmn5qmlGLAorrIraCznaJitrR5zairZp2Wm7KkwMivnGaZl5a2r7%2FT