Erfurt (dpa/th) - In Thuringia, more than 1,700 infections with the norovirus were reported by the end of October this year. This corresponds to about the same number as in the comparable period of the previous year. This was announced by the health insurance company Barmer on Wednesday, citing figures from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. In 2019, i.e. before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, 3169 norovirus infections were recorded in Bavaria by the end of October.
"The hygiene measures due to the corona pandemic had and still have a positive side effect and allow the number of infections to drop significantly, also with regard to the norovirus," said Birgit Dziuk, Barmer's state manager. Noroviruses cause severe diarrhea and violent vomiting, often accompanied by abdominal cramps, headaches and muscle pain, exhaustion and, in rare cases, increased body temperature, it said.
"Anyone who has been infected with noroviruses notices that pretty quickly. They get sick within a few hours. Even if diarrhea and vomiting are of course very unpleasant, the symptoms of those affected subside in the vast majority of cases after twelve to 72 hours," explained Dziuk. Hygiene is the best protection.
