New number of gastroenteritis cases in Guelph ‘tip of the iceberg’

The number of students with gastroenteritis has risen again at student residences inside the University of Guelph.

As of Tuesday, 243 cases were self-reported to the university and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (WDG) Public Health, as the health unit works to keep more students from being impacted.

They still only have one confirmed sample of norovirus, which is known to cause gastroenteritis, stomach infections and flu-like symptoms, but the CEO and Medical Officer of Health for WDG Public Health, Dr. Nicola Mercer, expects most of the cases found at the university are norovirus.

“You may have heard in the past potentially a cruise ship that has been stranded or docked because everybody is sick and vomiting or diarrhea, that is norovirus,” said Mercer.

“This outbreak is behaving exactly like norovirus, it looks and always has right from the beginning, even before we got the lab sample, from only one student, it looks and acts like norovirus.”

It’s considered to be a sneaky virus, as it can easily pass from person to person through small particles. Mercer said it’s spread from hand to mouth, meaning students should try not to touch their face too much and consistently wash their hands.

“At the university, we’ve had norovirus in a large residence of about 1,800 students so having 243 cases that we know of, we know is just the tip of the iceberg – the students are really sick in this residence.”

Mercer added that usually, people show symptoms within 12 hours, but they should only be sick for up to 72 hours. Anything longer requires medical attention. Parents of infants, toddlers and seniors should also contact their healthcare provider if they experience any symptoms within the first 12 hours.

The quick spread of the virus didn’t come at a shock to Mercer though, who said this is a sign things are more back to normal after pandemic restrictions lifted and more people went out to socialize. She added that they often see the spread of norovirus around Christmas time.

“It spreads very rapidly through often hundreds of people, and this is to be expected, I believed right from the start we’re going to see a lot of people getting sick because its such a bad virus for spreading,” said Mercer.

It’s likely the virus has already made its way off campus but it’s mostly being reported currently at the South student residence building.

In a media release Jan. 13, the University of Guelph said 22 new self-reported cases came over the weekend, adding “the majority of those reporting illness have recovered within 24 to 48 hours.”

Residence communities at the University of Guelph are also temporarily moving away from larger-scale social programs which they will re-assess later in the week. They say “all other campus events and programming, including classes, are continuing as usual.”

Symptoms include:

• Diarrhea 
• Vomiting 
• Nausea 
• Stomach pain or cramping 
• Fever or chills 
• Headache 
• Body aches 
• Fatigue 

“If you’re sick you should stay home, try and stay away from other members in your house, keep your hands clean, make sure you’re using the proper cleaning agents and drink lots of fluids and you will get through this,” said Mercer.