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What parts of the body does norovirus affect?
Norovirus—the stomach bug Norovirus infection causes gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). This leads to diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Norovirus illness is often called by other names, such as food poisoning and stomach flu.
How does norovirus infect the body?
Within a day of infection, noroviruses have rewired our digestive system so that stuff comes flying out from both ends. To trigger diarrhea, the viruses alter the intestinal lining, causing cells to dump out their fluids, which then gets washed out of the body–along with many, many, many noroviruses.
Who does the norovirus affect?
Norovirus illness is usually brief in people who are otherwise healthy. Young children, the elderly, and people with other medical illnesses are most at risk for more severe or prolonged infection. Like all viral infections, noroviruses are not affected by treatment with antibiotics.
What parts of the body are affected when a person has gastroenteritis?
Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract in both the stomach and the small intestine.
Does norovirus affect the small intestine?
Norovirus was distributed throughout the small intestine, with concentrated areas of virus in epithelial cells at or near the tips of small intestinal villi and above regions of GALT. Enteroendocrine cells were identified as an epithelial cell type associated with active norovirus replication.
Where are the outbreaks of norovirus?
The most commonly reported setting for norovirus outbreaks in the United States and other industrialized countries is healthcare facilities, including long-term care facilities and hospitals. Over half of all norovirus outbreaks reported in the United States occur in long-term care facilities.
What are norovirus symptoms?
Common symptoms of norovirus infection include vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Less common symptoms can include low-grade fever or chills, headache, and muscle aches. Symptoms usually begin 1 or 2 days after ingesting the virus, but may appear as early as 12 hours after exposure.
How does norovirus affect the immune system?
Norovirus infections fail to elicit long-lasting robust immunity. Noroviruses are shed for prolonged times, suggesting incomplete immune clearance. Noroviruses block the host secretory pathway which likely impedes immune responses. The norovirus virulence factor 1 (VF1) protein antagonizes cytokine induction.
What body system is affected by stomach flu?
Viral gastroenteritis is an infection of your intestines that typically causes watery diarrhea, pain or cramping in your abdomen, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes fever.
Can gastroenteritis affect liver?
What diseases or medical conditions result from Viral Gastroenteritis? Due to loss of fluids from diarrhoea, fatigue and dehydration malnutrition, circulatory and metabolic dysfunction can often occur. Other organs, such as the skin, liver and kidneys, can be affected too.
How does norovirus affect cells?
A norovirus particle consists of a molecule of ribonucleic acid (or RNA for short), which contains the genome of the virus, surrounded by a coat of proteins. The virus is unable to multiply on its own and so it infects the cells of its host and hijacks them to make new viral proteins and RNA.
Where is norovirus from?
Norovirus is the leading cause of illness and outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States. Most of these outbreaks occur in food service settings like restaurants.