Norovirus Outbreaks on rise on both sides of the Atlantic.

The BBC reports that ‘Vomiting Larry’ is busy being sick over and over again in an experiment to test just how far the winter vomiting bug can travel when it makes you ill.

Lucky for Larry, he is not a constantly retching human – but a simulated vomiting system that shows the virus can travel an impressive 3m (9.8ft) in a projectile episode, according to his creators at the British Health and Safety Laboratory.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that noroviruses cause nearly 21 million cases of acute gastroenteritis annually, making noroviruses the leading cause of gastroenteritis in adults in the United States.  According to a relatively recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine:

The Norwalk agent was the first virus that was identified as causing gastroenteritis in humans, but recognition of its importance as a pathogen has been limited because of the lack of available, sensitive, and routine diagnostic methods. Recent advances in understanding the molecular biology of the noroviruses, coupled with applications of novel diagnostic techniques, have radically altered our appreciation of their impact. Noroviruses are now recognized as being the leading cause of epidemics of gastroenteritis and an important cause of sporadic gastroenteritis in both children and adults.

Of the viruses, only the common cold is reported more often than a norovirus infection—also referred to as viral gastroenteritis.

To learn more about norovirus, visit http://www.about-norwalk.com.