Why is it so bad this year?

[wishihadagoodone]

After reading stories upon stories of people dropping like flies with noro this winter, I started wondering why the hell it's so bad this year in particular?!

A winter vomiting bug is pretty standard but for special assemblies to be called to remind children to wash their hands and schools being shut down for deep cleans, it seems to be on steroids this year.

DM (in her old fashioned wisdom) thinks it's because we've had a mild winter so far and a "good frost would kill it". I'm no microbiologist so can't confirm or poo-poo her theory.

Anyone have any ideas?

Well, it's certainly not to do with the weather.

In the majority of cases (at least in this country), it's transmitted from person to person, so the outside temperature really makes no difference.

Plus, norovirus can survive at freezing temperatures anyway.

Maybe less about weather killing it and more about how weather changes our behaviour perhaps? More likely to be wearing gloves which we remove before eating and drinking. Less likely to go out if it is very cold so reduced chances to interact with noro outside the immediate circle. More likely to stay at home if we are feeling under the weather. No idea really!

I did read that the Norovirus viral particle has a hard outer shell which the cold weather preserves, the heat from the warmer months breaks it down so the particles don’t live as long on surfaces.
God awful virus but fascinating to read about, it’s incredibly hardy.

We are all in closer proximity during the colder months so all viruses spread easily.

I answered a post earlier about noro, it only takes 7 particles to infect you, to catch a cold it takes hundreds of particles to infect you so it’s very easily caught.

Noro epidemics come in 6/7 year cycles, it was particularly bad the winter of 2005 into 2006, then again in 2012 and now this year. It also mutates itself, the strain that has been around since 2012 is the Sydney strain, I think it has likely mutated again which is causing the current epidemic.

I remember in 2012 when the kids went back to school in the New Year it had worn itself out and 2013 and 2014 were quiet winters for noro.