UKHSA issues urgent 48-hour 'stay at home' warning for anyone with 7 symptoms

Résumé détaillé

People have been told to stay at home for two days if they think they have bug as experts warn 'hand sanitiser won't work'

Health chiefs have issued an urgent alert as cases of a debilitating bug rise. People are being told to stay at home for 48-hours if they have developed some key symptoms of the infection - and warned that using sanitiser will not kill it.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the UKHSA has warned the number of people developing norovirus has recently risen. It says there have been a total of 2,111 laboratory reports of people with the infection so far in the current season - an increase of 16.8% on the five season average for the same period.

While it still remains within expected levels, the agency has alerted people that the infection has begun to increase with 257 reports over the two weeks up to last week. And it has shared information of what people should do if they have any of the symptoms of the bug.

Norovirus is often dubbed the winter vomiting bug despite being able to catch it throughout the year. It is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea that spreads easily through communities, making outbreaks common in settings where individuals have close contact such as hospitals, care homes, cruise ships, schools and nurseries.

The virus infects the stomach and intestines, and is also known as a gastrointestinal virus, gastric flu or a stomach bug. You can catch norovirus more than once in a short time period because multiple types (or genotypes) of norovirus circulate at any given time and while you may develop limited immunity to one strain you can still be infected by a different one soon after.

The UKHSA previously warned: "Norovirus is incredibly infectious, so if you're feeling unwell stay home for 48 hours after symptoms stop as you are still infectious during this time." It also warned at the time that hand sanitiser will not work to prevent the illness.

To prevent the virus's transmission, the health service recommends those experiencing symptoms should avoid attending school, work, hospitals, and care homes until 48 hours after the symptoms have ended.

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