Gastroenteritis outbreak, NSW

Red alert! 

The New South Wales gov put out a warning the other day citing a big increase (from last year) in people presenting to the states hospitals emergency with gastroenteritis. It must be pretty bad to have to go to hospital with it. I just had a casual read of it the other day.

28 August 2012

Health warning on gastroenteritis 

NSW Health is warning of a gastroenteritis epidemic currently circulating around the state.

More than 3500 people have attended NSW Emergency Departments in the past fortnight for vomiting and diarrhoea including a number of cases involving primary school aged children.

The disease has also affected people in institutions such as nursing homes, hospitals and child care centres with 87 gastro outbreaks confirmed in the last month compared to 48 outbreaks in August 2011.

NSW Health Director of Health Protection, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said that viral gastroenteritis is highly infectious and is often spread via direct contact with an infected person.

“These outbreaks are mostly caused by infection with a virus – most often norovirus or rotavirus-- and spread easily from person to person,” Dr McAnulty said.

“Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain, headache, and muscle aches. These symptoms can take between one and three days to develop and usually last between one and two days, sometimes longer.
Link

Unfortunately my daughter has caught it and is really sick at home. She's been doing work experience at a local child care centre as part of the studies for the child care qualification she's doing. One of the kids there got it the other day, and then they all ended up with it. 

Fuck, I dunno why the hell parents send their kids to the centre when they're obviously sick like that. If the parents have to have a day or two off work over it, so what? Can't help being ill, and you're allowed to use your sick days to look after an ill family member. I know it may not become apparent until after the kid arrives there for the day though, which I guess is what happened. 

Must be really contagious. Daughter said she was washing her hands constantly, and the sterile soap stuff at the door in each room, but she still got it. I imagine changing nappies and the like would be pretty bad for getting it. 

She's really sick, haven't seen her this sick for a long time. Couldn't keep anything down yesterday, not even water. She went to the doctor across the road and it was a 2 hour wait without an appt, so she asked to lie down in the nurses room. But soon after went to the counter again saying how bad she was and couldn't stop spewing, was shaking and weak from it. They sent a doctor in soon after and she got a Maxalon injection, which she said this morning didn't do a hell of a lot. I was a bit worried earlier, told her if she keeps going like this she'd better go up the hospital as she may need a drip for the dehydration. She's had some plain boiled rice this morning and she's seeing how that goes. Says if she spews it up she'll go back to the doctor. I suggested going to the other medical centre at the mall as it's always a much shorter wait.

Now I'm freaked out I'm going to get it. That'd fuck me right up, probably just go straight up the hospital if I did. Well, I may not get it, as I'm not changing her nappies anymore!