Norovirus typically causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Symptoms may also include low-grade fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches. Symptoms may begin 12 to 48 hours after exposure. Symptoms last about 1 to 2 days and, in most cases, ill persons get better on their own. Sometimes people need to see a health care provider mainly due to dehydration, with the very young and elderly at highest risk. Those with severe diarrhea should drink lots of liquids.

Norovirus is very contagious and can be easily spread through food, person-to-person contact, or by contaminated surfaces, especially in group settings. People can reduce their chance of getting infected by frequent hand washing using soap and warm running water for a minimum of 20 seconds (alcohol based hand sanitizers do NOT work against norovirus).

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