The norovirus has come into focus once again in Kerala, after two confirmed cases were found among lower primary school students recently. The virus causes stomach-related ailments including vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms. The cases have been reported in Vizhinjam in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As many as 42 students of the school said they felt ill after consuming midday meals at the school, and after they were admitted to hospital and tested, it was found that two among them had contracted norovirus. All the children belong to a school in Uchakada in Vizhinjam.
Health Department officials have also said that more samples from the students have been sent for further testing, and that prima facie, it is found that food poisoning was caused due to the midday meals. Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty has called for a meeting to discuss the measures about providing safer midday meals.
Symptoms of the disease caused by the norovirus include severe vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, fever, body pain and headache. The virus spreads from animals, through contaminated water and food, as well as through direct contact with patients. It can also transmit by touching surfaces contaminated with the virus.
In November last year, over a dozen students of a veterinary college in Wayanad had been infected with the virus. State Health Department officials said that the norovirus spreads through water and food particles, and the infection generally lasts only for two days and that there are not many after-effects. However, the officials said that norovirus can cause dehydration in very young and old people, and in some patients, their bodies may remain weak for a week following the infection. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Prevention stated that to keep norovirus at bay, regular washing of hands is required and fruits and vegetables must be rinsed in hot water properly.
Cases of norovirus have been reported across the world over the past few years. As of April 2022, 103 cases of the disease were reported in the US, as per the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. There are several variants of the virus, and immunity from one variant does not protect one from the others.
A day before the incident, on Saturday, June 4, children from a school in Alappuzha district and an anganwadi centre in Kollam district were admitted to hospitals due to suspected food poisoning. All of them reportedly consumed mid-day meals at the schools, following which they fell sick.
(With IANS inputs)