Contagious Virus Adds to Prevailing “Chaos” in US State’s Red Zone 

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Pennsylvania faces a triple virus threat as norovirus joins the flu and RSV, causing high viral activity across the state. Health experts warn of rapid norovirus spread, dehydration risks, and the need for caution during this severe outbreak. 

United States: The flu joins coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus as viruses that currently spread within Pennsylvania, including at an established pizza restaurant in the State College area last month. 

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The highly contagious norovirus continues to spread from person to person through contaminated surfaces and hands, yet this increased activity finds itself in the midst of an active respiratory viral season. 

The respiratory illness tracker from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Pennsylvania’s continued high activity, which is marked with a fiery red as viral activity stayed high in the Keystone State. 

President Donald Trump’s ordered health communications pause creates delays in CDC data reporting and data distribution for other federal agencies, centredaily.com reported. 

What more are the experts stating? 

Doctors have not found a way to treat norovirus, so it passes rapidly through populations, leading to ongoing transmission. 

Norovirus remains resilient enough to survive on surfaces and objects for multiple weeks and defies sanitization from common disinfectants and hand cleaners, according to the American Medical Association. 

Dr. Jared Maurer from Mt. Nittany Health in Philipsburg explains that norovirus-related dehydration represents one of the most serious effects of this infection. 

Once you contract a norovirus infection, Maurer advises that people should drink controlled amounts of liquids containing electrolytes, including Gatorade or Liquid IV. 

Seek medical care immediately if norovirus makes you unable to drink fluids or keep them down due to vomiting or nausea, according to Dr. Jared Maurer. 

He advised “In the mouth, around the eyes, typically those are very moist areas, so if those areas are looking dry and not having a lot of moisture, those are signs that dehydration is going on,” centredaily.com reported. 

When caring for babies, keep an eye out for dehydration symptoms because infants cannot communicate their health condition, the experts urged. 

Outbreaks of norovirus occur because sick people shed vast numbers of virus particles into their stool and vomit, which transmits the infection to others. 

A small amount of norovirus particles can lead to sickness, and the spread continues through food, water, and surfaces, according to the CDC.