US, on alert for upsurge of cases
The United States recently saw a spike in norovirus illness cases to levels rarely seen and higher than in all of last year. This disease is caused by a group of viruses belonging to the Caliciviridae family that are linked together and that upon entering the human body prevent it from generating immunity, so it can make the same person sick several times in short periods of time. Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the US, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, causing between 19 and 21 million illnesses each year. This pathogen is highly contagious, so people who have it are most contagious when they are sick, but they can transmit the virus even three days after they have recovered from the worst symptoms, there is currently no drug or vaccine to specifically treat the pathogen. norovirus, but most people make a full recovery without treatment, and a vaccine is already in development that, although not yet ready, is in the early stages of testing for this infection.
Graphics: Julio Loyola and Roberto Alvarado.
