New UK stats show dangerous stomach bug hits twice as hard as before Covid

Cases of winter vomiting bug are hitting UK homes hard this season with numbers going up by 20% in just two weeks (which is double the pre-Covid numbers)

The stats paint a rough picture: around 3‚7 million britʼs catch this bug yearly while it takes about 200k lives worldwide. But theres some good news - Dr Lucy Thorne from Imperial College London says theyʼre working on the worlds first vaccine‚ though weʼll have to wait till 26 to get it

This nasty bug – known to docs as norovirus – is super-easy to catch: just 20 tiny virus bits can make you sick. To put that in perspective; one teaspoon of infected stuff has enough virus to theoretically infect everyone on Earth. Its really sneaky too – you might not even know youʼve got it but can still pass it to others

Hereʼs what to watch out for if you think you caught it:
* Throwing up (often without warning)
* Stomach pain and cramps
* Diarrhea that comes quick
* Fever and muscle aches
* Sometimes seizures in small kids

Dr Ahmed Albusoda from Princess Grace Hospital suggests eating simple foods if you get sick: “Stay away from dairy stuff and heavy proteins; stick to plain rice toast and bananas“ he explains

The virus spreads through touching dirty surfaces or being near someone whoʼs sick – it can fly up to 9ft through the air when someone throws up (gross but true). Regular soap works better than hand sanitizer; and dont forget to clean everything with bleach-water mix