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CLOUDY Temp: 45 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend January 25, 2003 Pat Preston Norwalk common, virus expert says By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Pat Preston knows enough about the Norwalk virus to say you’ve probably had it. To reduce your chances of getting it again, he recommends frequent use of alcohol-based, hand-cleaning gels. The Salem-based infection-control consultant came to Medford Friday to talk about strategies for fighting Norwalk and other bad bugs. His presentation was especially timely, given the outbreak of gastrointestinal virus that sickened nearly 170 residents and workers at two Medford nursing homes over the past 10 days, but he had been scheduled to speak here months before the virus surfaced. No new cases of Norwalk virus have been detected since Jan. 20 at Waterford at Three Fountains, where 89 residents and 69 workers became ill. A possible case that surfaced Thursday already had been counted in an earlier tally. Medford Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center reported no new cases on Friday. Nine residents have fallen ill since the virus surfaced Jan. 21. Preston, 56, travels five states lecturing on infection control and consulting with nursing homes and other long-term care centers. He said people who come down with the Norwalk virus (or any of the other gastrointestinal viruses in the norovirus family) often mistakenly attribute their illness to food poisoning. "How many times have you had a bout of diarrhea and vomiting and you blamed it on the food you just ate?" he said during a break in his presentation. Preston said the Medford nursing-home outbreaks were not food-borne because some residents did not become ill. "If it had been in the food," he said, "everybody would have gotten it." He said the noroviruses are most commonly spread by contact with microscopic amounts of virus in public rest rooms when people fail to wash their hands after defecating. "It’s on the toilet handle," he said. The virus can enter the digestive system when a contaminated hand touches the mouth, and it takes very little virus to cause illness. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as few as 10 to 100 ingested virus particles can cause illness. Billions of virus particles can live on the head of a pin. "A speck of vomit or stool you can’t see has plenty of virus to infect you," he said. Preston said the Norwalk virus usually surfaces during winter in crowded environments such as nursing homes, hospitals, jails and schools. "It’s easily spread where people are living close together," he said. "We rarely see (large outbreaks) outside an institutional setting." The viruses spread quite easily in nursing homes because elderly people can’t always control their bodily functions. "It’s not negligence that spreads it (in nursing homes)," he said. "It’s the nature of care for elderly people." Preston said alcohol-based hand-cleaning gels kill the gastrointestinal viruses as well as those that beset us with colds and influenza. Those viruses are often spread by touching contaminated doorknobs. "Every publicly touched doorknob," he said, "is veneered with whatever today’s bug is." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S