How's it even possible to get stomach flus during the COVID

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Joe90
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25 Mar 2021, 7:04 pm

With all the social distancing and everything I'd have thought norovirus or other stomach flus were almost impossible to get but my friend has just posted on Facebook saying their 2-year-old has been sick everywhere, and I've been working with her all evening.
The thing is, the toddler doesn't mix with other children yet, and my friend is very cautious about the social distancing thing; she shops online and makes sure her and her son's hands are clean, and disinfects door handles frequently, etc. She drives to work but is exempt from wearing a mask because she has athsma.

How could the little boy suddenly catch a stomach flu/norovirus? Do 2-year-olds spew up everywhere for any other reasons, or is it usually always stomach viruses? I'm scared my friend might have been carrying the bug and that I might catch it. Many people say stomach viruses aren't airborne but they are, as I have proof of that from my previous job in a care home. I would ask my friend on Facebook but I don't like to seem too paranoid, and she probably only wants sympathy right now.

I wash my hands religiously at work using hand sanitizer and I wear a mask most of the time, but my friend gave me a ride home in her car so you can't really remain 2 metres apart in a car. I heard wearing a mask yourself doesn't protect you, only other people from your germs, so me wearing a mask was futile.

I have emetophobia by the way, which means severe phobia of vomiting. Please respect that.


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Blue_Star
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25 Mar 2021, 7:41 pm

There are still germs about, & two y/os put everything in their mouth, iirc.

Things that can cause it that aren't illnesses
* Over-excitement
* Laughing
* Overeating
* Eating too quickly
* Being very upset
* Ate the wrong thing
* Hiccups
* Coughing

Your immune system is built up from what you've experienced in the world. A two y/o's hasn't been exposed to much yet. Clothing, skin, groceries, mail, handles, etc.



BeaArthur
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25 Mar 2021, 7:45 pm

Not every stomach flu is a contagious illness. It could well be food poisoning.


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Fnord
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25 Mar 2021, 7:48 pm

It was explained to me by a doctor and a few nurses that most cases of the "Stomach Flu" are really some form of bacterial infection, such as salmonella.  Sometimes plates or cutlery is not completely clean, or your hands came in contact with a contaminated object or surface and then came in contact with your "finger food".  And sometimes people do not wash their hands as thoroughly as they believe.



Fireblossom
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26 Mar 2021, 10:18 am

^ This. Plus, we're talking about a two year old; maybe he ate some bugs, or sucked his unwashed thumb, or licked the floor (weird but since we're talking about a toddler, anything goes), maybe he ate something completely normal that his stomach just can't handle and it hasn't been figured out yet since he's so small... many reasons, really. Unless you know for a fact that it's something that can spread, like someone else catches it too, there's probably no reason to worry.



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26 Mar 2021, 10:23 am

Fireblossom wrote:
^ This. Plus, we're talking about a two year old...
Good grief ... does that family also have a dog?

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Joe90
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26 Mar 2021, 11:50 am

She added on Facebook that she has never seen him sick like this before, the last time he was sick was when he was a baby.

I suppose I'll find out at work tonight when I see my friend. I'll just casually ask her how the little one is.


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