China's health ministry orders prevention of norovirus infection
16/1/2007 16:36
China's Ministry of Health has ordered health organizations across the
country to strengthen prevention and control of the norovirus infection,
commonly known as "stomach flu".
Although the rate of infection was about
average this year, experts said there was a high probability of it spreading in
China after recent outbreaks in Japan, Europe and the United
States.
Norovirus is one of the most common gastrointestinal viruses
affecting humans and is contagious. Its symptoms include nausea, diarrhea,
vomiting and abdominal cramps.
Symptoms usually appear within 24 to 48 hours
of exposure, and typically last for one to three days.
The ministry required
hospitals to quickly report abnormal increases of diarrhea cases.
Monitoring
should be strengthened in restaurants, schools, public places, construction
sites and places with migrant workers, said the ministry circular.
The
ministry also asked health organizations to strengthen links with border
checking departments to report epidemic situations to each other.
Experts
warned the public to be aware about food safety. They said the best way to avoid
infection was to eat less raw food, especially sea food such as oysters.
In
the fall of 2006, there were massive outbreaks of the norovirus infection in
Japan, Singapore and Italy, with 357,600 people contracting the virus in less
than two months.
Xinhua
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