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The highly contagious norovirus is spreading rapidly across the country as the year comes to a close, driven by a surging variant. This new wave of norovirus outbreaks coincides with nationwide spikes in flu, whooping cough, measles, and COVID.Sickness from norovirus, often referred to as the “winter vomiting disease” or “winter vomiting bug,” could require medical attention or even hospitalisation for immunocompromised people, the elderly and children, Axios reported.Cases of norovirus have picked up in California in recent weeks as a new subvariant, GII.17, has triggered a spike, according to the Los Angeles Times. The San Francisco and Los Angeles areas saw massive climbs in cases. Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina have also reported upticks, while Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Alabama, Montana and Wyoming have seen rising case numbers, per data from Epic Research.For the week ending on Dec. 9, the national positivity rate was 9.9%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It climbed to 12.11% for the week ending on Dec. 13.Norovirus is a contagious disease that causes inflammation of the stomach and intestines, leading to extreme cases of vomiting and diarrhoea, per the CDC. It is one of the top causes of vomiting and diarrhoea and has gained the nickname “extreme vomiting disease.”Roughly 20 million people contract norovirus every year in the US, per Scientific American. Outbreaks attributed to GII.17 rose from 7.5% during the 2022–23 season to 75.4% in the 2024–25 season, according to CDC data. In the same period, outbreaks of the previous leading variant, GII.4, fell from nearly 49% to 10.7%.Two other major illnesses are still circulating during the holiday season. COVID cases are surging nationwide, with 31 states reporting infections that are growing or likely growing, many driven by the XFG Stratus variant. Experts have also warned of a new flu outbreak in Europe, caused by a version of H3N2 that emerged over the summer.
Symptoms
Symptoms of norovirus typically begin 12 to 48 hours after infection and include diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, stomach pain and dehydration. Fever or body aches are possible but remain uncommon.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for norovirus, but symptoms generally resolve within one to three days, per the Cleveland Clinic. Health officials recommend drinking liquids and electrolytes, eating bland foods, washing hands thoroughly and disinfecting surfaces. Hand sanitiser alone is ineffective, and anyone who catches norovirus may wish to avoid preparing food for a few days to limit the spread.
