Nausea, vomiting or both. Stomach cramps and pain. Occasional muscle aches or headache. Low-grade fever.
What are the 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.
“Stomach flu symptoms include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea,” Miller says. “A low-grade fever, chills and muscle aches aren't uncommon to experience as well. Symptoms can start as little as 12 hours after exposure.”
After initial (first) exposure, a person will usually get the stomach flu within 12-48 hours. The stomach flu is diagnosed based mostly on symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, abdominal cramps, and no fever or a low-grade fever.
Stomach bugs, also called gastroenteritis, are very common in young children and can cause vomiting, diarrhea and sometimes a fever. Gastroenteritis typically lasts in the neighborhood of three to seven days, but sometimes it can be shorter and, unfortunately, sometimes it lasts longer.
Aside from staying hydrated, the best thing you can do for the stomach bug is treat the diarrhea symptoms. Pepto Diarrhea has you covered. Its dual action coats your stomach and kills the common bacterial causes of diarrhea. You can count on fast, calming, and effective diarrhea relief with Pepto Diarrhea.
People usually develop symptoms 12–48 hours after exposure to the virus. Many people only experience these symptoms for 24 hours, but it is not uncommon for 24-hour stomach bugs to last longer than 1 day.
When an infected person vomits, the virus may become airborne and land on surfaces or on another person. Viral gastroenteritis may spread in households, day care centers and schools, nursing homes, cruise ships, restaurants, and other places where people gather in groups.
The viruses that cause gastroenteritis are spread through close contact with infected people, such as by sharing food or eating utensils, and by touching contaminated surfaces and objects. Eating contaminated food also can cause norovirus.
Nausea, vomiting or both. Stomach cramps and pain. Occasional muscle aches or headache. Low-grade fever.
In some people, the stomach flu symptoms may be more pronounced at night due to their circadian rhythm. At night an increase in immune system activity releases infection-fighting chemicals. These can cause inflammation that make you feel worse as you battle your flu.
Most individuals with gastroenteritis will experience both diarrhea and vomiting, but some experience only one of these symptoms. Diarrhea is often very watery (type 7 on the Bristol stool chart), and can be bloody if the source of gastroenteritis is bacterial.
If you're anywhere near the splash zone — even just kneeling next to them, without any of the vomit getting on you — virus-laden vomit particles can travel through the air and enter the mucous membranes of your nose or mouth as you breathe.
A 24-hour stomach bug is a viral infection that causes diarrhea and vomiting. Most cases are easily treatable and resolve in one to three days. Sometimes called the "stomach flu," the 24-hour stomach bug is a type of gastroenteritis caused by a contagious infection like norovirus.
Interestingly, not everyone is equally vulnerable to the virus, and whether you get sick or not may depend on your blood type.
Viral gastroenteritis is very common. Norovirus is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis. In the United States, norovirus causes 19 to 21 million cases of viral gastroenteritis each year. Other viruses that cause gastroenteritis are less common.
Living with a stomach virus
Stomach viruses are often mild and go away on their own in 1 to 3 days. Babies, older adults, or people who have low immune systems should see the doctor right away. This can help prevent their infection from getting worse.
There is no real cure for a stomach bug (viral gastroenteritis) because it is caused by a virus. Most people don't need medical treatment and symptoms will go away on their own within a few days, though in some people symptoms may last up to 10 days.
However, the key distinction is time: The symptoms of a stomach bug will take 12 to 48 hours to develop, while the symptoms of food poisoning typically develop much faster, usually with 6 hours of consuming an infected dish. Another common difference between the two is the length of illness.
When you have viral gastroenteritis, you should drink plenty of liquids to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. You may vomit after you eat or lose your appetite for a short time. When your appetite returns, you can most often go back to eating your normal diet, even if you still have diarrhea.
Prevention
All of the viruses that cause the stomach bug are highly contagious. Once one person in a daycare, school or office catches it, it's not unusual to see many others also get sick. If your child is healthy and not sick, the most important thing to do is to keep him/her that way.
Sleeping on your side with your head raised can ease symptoms and keep you from choking on your vomit, if you're unable to make it to the bathroom in time.