what causes tummy bugs?

aggypanthus

We are racking our brains as to the cause of hubbys vomiting sessions today.
Where do these bugs come from, its awful to not know!

it cant be food as we mostly ate the same, apart from a sausage in a friends house.
I am scared it will be me next! I hate being sick.
no one else has been in the house, and we didnt go into any other places yesterday:(k

candlelight_2013

Hi Aggypanthus,

Are you well, other than the threat of catching what DH has?.

A lot of vomiting bugs are airborn I think, so you only need to walk past someone in a supermarket, or perhaps at friend's house, although I expect you have already checked with them.

Hopefully it will only be a 24 hour bug, and I am with you on being sick, I hate it, I am such a wimp

Much love
Marie x

moomoomama27

If it's a viral stomach bug it would probably not have been caught yesterday, instead incubated for about a week previous. The main cause of vomiting without a bug being present us food poisoning, or an intolerance to a medication AFAIK, if both those have been ruled out, then likely you were exposed to something days ago.

The only way to avoid the bug spreading once it's in your household, is to frequently wash your hands, clean toilets, sinks etc with an anti bac spray. It may not help though.

pickledonionspaceraider

Sometimes it depends on the person. My hubby is sick easily, whereas I have guts of iron!

aileth

I had a really terrible bug recently which put me out of commission for at least a week. I hadn't eaten a single thing different to OH. It wasn't vomiting though, it was the 'other' end. I was so weak I essentially spent all day laying on the sofa waiting for him to come home!

He didn't catch it off me and still hasn't. I'm guessing it was someone on public transport? No idea!

NAR

A lack of cleanliness is most common factor. Which obviously can be caught from anywhere he has been in contact with, so I'm not saying your home is dirty.

kitrat

There's a good chance it's a viral infection which can be caught in just the same way as a cold, and not caught from food. Sometimes these things are just an unavoidable part of life.

AbbieCadabra

think there's a few stomach / sickness viruses doing the rounds at the moment, i was unwell last weekend, it took 5 days till a felt 100% better, plus others i know have been ill too.

you can guarantee that when i mention this to my mum, she will always ask "where have you got that from then?". 'anywhere & everywhere' is what i want to say, but i try to be polite & just don't respond!

InsideInsurance

aileth wrote: »

I hadn't eaten a single thing different to OH.

But the reality is that you did. You may both have had sausages but you didnt eat the identical sausage, he ate some you ate some others even if they came from the same pack. Most food born bugs are heat sensitive so if one sausage got left at the edge of the grill/BBQ etc then all but that one would be safe and that one that was slightly under cooked could be the one carrying a nasty.

Without testing there is no way to say for certain what the cause was. We normally choose to blame things on the seafood we had last night because they are more common causes but the poor prawn could have been fine and it was the person that didnt wash their hands properly in the toilet a couple of days ago that you followed our the door.

Food poisoning normally takes 24-48 hours to take effect though it can be quicker. More general infections often take longer but there are exceptions to that too.

WestonDave

If its a bug hand hygiene is the most important means of avoiding it. The most common route for spreading the major stomach bugs (norovirus and rotovirus) is via infected vomit or faeces being transferred to say a door handle, which you then touch and having done so either handle food or bite your nails etc. (Technically called the "faecal oral" route). Some airborne transmission hasn't been ruled out but is thought to be secondary to contact transmission. The virus can live on hard surfaces for a while, and people remain infectious for over 48 hours after they stop being sick (or having diarrhoea) which is why a lot of schools have a 48 hour exclusion policy. Bear in mind that it is a virus so cleaners which promise to kill 99.9% of bacteria won't be that effective - bleach is apparently the best for getting rid of it. So I'd give the toilet and bathroom used by husband a good dose of bleach and keep washing your hands!










Ultimately whilst I entirely sympathise with your dislike of being sick, its generally a pretty quick bug to get rid of - which is possibly why its so virulent as it has to keep spreading to survive otherwise people's immune systems would kill it off before it can find a new host, and it would become extinct.

aggypanthus

Thanks for all your replies!

Dave. You said it all really!

Yep, I am very fussy re handwashing, visiting kids get policed by me, maybe one got by me lol!
I try to get everyone to wash hands when we get home from anywhere.

Aileth snd Abbie, I hope it doesnt last a week!
He is laid up now, under a blanket,shivering, with the heating on eek!
I have bleached all the surfaces of course