No current gastroenteritis outbreak at MIT
Babson College in Wellesley was closed for several days this week due to an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis that sickened approximately 100 students. Public health officials believe the outbreak was due to a norovirus which causes “stomach flu” or acute gastroenteritis (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping). For otherwise healthy people, it is a self-limiting illness.
People who contract noroviruses often become ill suddenly and may feel very sick for several days. Those infected with noroviruses can be contagious for one to two days before becoming sick and for two to three weeks after they recover. Frequent and consistent hand-washing and frequent cleaning of shared contact surfaces are the best ways to prevent the spread of noroviruses.
There has been no apparent increase in gastrointestinal viral illness at MIT in the last few weeks, but we have ongoing surveillance to detect any outbreaks and have initiated an incident command center that is taking steps to reduce the chances of such an outbreak and making plans to care for affected individuals should it occur. More information on norovirus is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
April 2, 2009
![[MIT logo]](/images/logo_mit.gif){kind=logo}
