Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach and diarrhea.
No, it’s not a Pepto-Bismol commercial. Add a couple of bouts of vomiting and it’s a list of common symptoms that local hospital emergency rooms are hearing recently due to a spike in stomach viruses sweeping across Windsor-Essex.
“What we’ve been able to avoid the last couple of years around this time of year is people suffering from types of gastro issues, but our luck has run out. We’ve seen a massive increase and we are very busy right now,” said Windsor Regional Hospital president and CEO David Musyj.
“We knew we were running on borrowed time and sure enough it’s catching up to us this year.”
It’s not at an outbreak level, said Musyj, but he said Windsor Regional is definitely experiencing higher volumes of people suffering from gastroenteritis – which is inflammation of the stomach, intestines, or both, and is most commonly caused by a virus. He said while these types of gastro viruses usually occur in the winter months, it’s usually later in the year, like February, so this year’s spike is early.
Dr. Curt Wimmer, a Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital staff physician, said it’s sometimes very hard to avoid these viruses, especially when there’s an increase in people carrying them.
“Unfortunately some of these illnesses are the result of being a human being and walking the planet. You’re going to pick these up, unless you want to live in a bubble,” said Wimmer. “But the real basics will go a long way – avoiding ill people and washing your hands frequently.”
He added that those people who are sick with gastro infections should be avoided even a couple of days after they are feeling better because it takes some time for them to shed the virus and they may still be contagious.
The gastro viruses are hitting a wide spectrum of people, said Wimmer, and across every age group, but it’s the young children and very old people, and people suffering from diabetes, heart disease or other underlying conditions, that need to be careful and are at most risk for complications like dehydration.
Wimmer said in the initial stages of the virus, people should only try drinking small amounts of fluids and not large quantities at a time, like a whole bottle of water. Then, after the stomach is settled and the person is able to keep down fluids and get rehydrated, food can slowly be reintroduced.
If someone suffering from a stomach virus is not able to tolerate liquids at all and vomiting or diarrhea continue, they should probably head to an emergency room as they may require intravenous fluids, Wimmer said.
Gastro viruses are most commonly spread from hand-to-mouth, or through fecal-oral transmission, said Wimmer, but it can also be spread from water droplets via vapor that we cough or breathe.
He said what usually happens with gastro infections is the ability of the bowel to re-absorb water becomes disrupted, causing diarrhea and water loss, and potential dehydration. So rehydrating your body with fluids is vital to get better, he said, but there’s one more straightforward home remedy that many seem to overlook.
“Everyone underestimates the benefits of simple rest,” he said, which will in turn shorten the duration of the illness. He said too often our society frowns upon people staying at home to rest, but this approach should be turned upside-down because what results is people going to work sick, being unproductive and spreading the virus to others.
And a misconception that some people have is that gastro infections are the flu.
“People say they have the flu, but really it’s gastroenteritis, some sort of virus that’s gotten into the gut,” said Wimmer. “The true flu, the seasonal flu, there’s a severity to that that’s much more significant.”
The flu, or influenza, is a more severe systemic illness which typically involves the upper respiratory tract.
And luckily for Windsor-Essex, while the increase in gastroenteritis may be flipping a few more stomachs than normal, at least the region is not seeing a rise in or influenza A (H3N2) virus, like recently reported throughout the province.
On Dec. 20, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Arlene King, issued a statement urging Ontarians to get their flu shot if they have not already done so due to high levels of influenza activity in the province.
In 2011, between Sept. 1 and Dec. 10, Ontario had no flu institutional outbreaks, but during the same time period in 2012, there were 49.
Gastroenteritis is much more common than influenza. The Public Health Agency of Canada reports that there are 300 to 400 outbreaks across the country each year, with only the common cold occurring more often.
Wimmer says the region is better off facing a spike in gastro infections than influenza – like reported in the province – because influenza is a significantly more severe ailment and annually results in up to 1,000 hospitalizations and up to 1,600 deaths in Ontario.
