what causes tummy bugs?

aggypanthus

Hi, candlelight, lovely to see you, yes, I am rather well now at last.xx

aggypanthus

He has gone to bed, he cant get warm, must be bad as he is no wimp and it takes a lot to floor him.
Telly all mine tonight lol!

thorsoak

The most important thing to do to avoid tummy bugs - is to wash hands, using soap and water, thoroughly! OP - I'm not suggesting that OH doesn't do this - but if everyone did this every time that they use the loo - not just flash their fingers under the cold tap - then that would go a long way to keeping bugs down! Anyone who was a low infection threshold is at danger from other people's hygiene habits :-(

Armchair23

Some infections bacterial or viral you just wont be able to avoid so you have to do your best to minimise the risk. That includes all the things you're doing already, handwashing - always before meals and after the loo. Soap and water is fine no need for antibac stuff. Don't keep raw and cooked meats together, use different chopping boards knives etc and wash with lots of lovely hot soapy water.
Cook meat till it's as dull as ditchwater, and stop snogging the pets !
When you're otherwise healthy these bugs usually are grim while they last but usually pass by without after effects.
The nasty ones like salmonella and campylobacter can last for much longer , can be passed on to others if you're not really careful and are actually 'notifiable' illnesses.
I was horrified to see my fit and healthy 30 year old son lose about 3 stone (out of 12 !) in a fortnight with campylobacter food poisoning , he couldn't keep fluids in his system never mind solids and it took at least a month before he could eat normally.
Fluids are really important even when they come and go quite quickly ! GPs can be very reluctant to see you or visit largely because they most things will resolve themselves in a few days and they don't want to catch it ! But if you're worried particularly with small children, the elderly or someone who's got other health problems be persistent.
Meantime keep those rubber gloves on and take to the spare room.
I hope tomorrow looks like a much better day X

aggypanthus

Armchair, your sons illness sound awful. I hope you got him back to a good healthy weight.Did he trace the source?
Spare room it is tonight.
We were in the food industry for many yrs, so we practice all the methods you mention, he cooks and is meticulous with prep and cleaning.
He could have picked it up in toilet , on a job, that just occurred to me.

mandi

Hi aggypanthus,

Have you thought that the cause of your husbands vomiting is something other than a bug?

A high temperature is usually an indication of infection ..

However medical advice isn't allowed here in MSE so perhaps he should see his GP .

nonnatus

Just to throw an interesting slant on it - TOO much hand washing and sanitising can have an equally bad effect on immune systems.

OF COURSE hands should be washed following toiletting or handling raw meat etc. But to wash hands whenever you've been out of your home and returned??

Perhaps you're catching bugs regularly because your bodies own system isn't being allowed to build up any tolerances to germs and viruses?

You need only look at the research showing that childhood problems such as Asthma and Exzema (Sp?) are reduced when children are allowed to get mucky and their parents aren't permanently wielding bottles of disinfectant around them...

AbbieCadabra

mandi wrote: »

Hi aggypanthus,

Have you thought that the cause of your husbands vomiting is something other than a bug?

A high temperature is usually an indication of infection ..

However medical advice isn't allowed here in MSE so perhaps he should see his GP .

the virus i had recently also had flu like symptoms as the hours went on, aches, hot & cold etc. the worst of it within the first 48 hours, then just left me feeling exhausted for 3 days or so. definitely worth checking if you're worried or it's lasting longer than that.

hope he's feeling better soon

aileth

@insideinsurance, yes, that is very true, I didn't even think of it like that!

@OP When I got it I felt absolutely fine, rolled into work Thursday morning, but then at 11am I was clung to the toilet bowl. I barely made it home in time. Within a couple of hours I was wrapped in blankets, shivering and sweating, but felt like I couldn't get warm no matter what.

I hope he gets better soon as it was absolutely dreadful.

SavingPennies_2

Usually from germs on dirty hands, so obviously easy to pass on. It's less likey to be the actual food itself (though its possible of course), but more likely how the food has been handled or stored.

Could be his hands were dirty when he ate something. Could be the person who handled the food before him had dirty hands. Even if you wash your hands you could then touch something, door handle, cutlery etc which is dirty and transfer it from there.

So....pretty much anywhere.

To avoid catching it off him. Ensure the bathroom, inc toilet and door handles are disinfected, and keep as far away as possible!