Norovirus infection is on the rise globally, raising concerns for parents as children are particularly susceptible to this highly infectious virus. Easily confused with ordinary stomach flu, norovirus brings sudden and severe episodes of vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. With cases peaking in the UK and elsewhere in the world, it is important to know the signs and act fast to avoid the spread of this disease.

The most recent statistics from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) show a dramatic rise in norovirus infections. During the two weeks between February 3 and 16, 2025, confirmed cases increased by 29.4% over the previous fortnight, twice the five-season average for the two-week period. Hospitals and care homes have been worst affected, with the infections being most common among the elderly. Whereas cases normally fall with better weather, the current season is being particularly unpredictable.

The spike is caused by the increase of two prevalent genotypes—GII.17 and GII.4, according to health professionals. Most cases (76%) were accounted for by GII.17 before, but its percentage decreased to 59% as GII.4 infection levels have almost doubled from 10% to 29% within three months. This indicates that people who already have norovirus this season may get reinfected with another strain.

What is Norovirus and How Does it Impact Children?

Norovirus is a contagious virus that leads to gastroenteritis, causing inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Norovirus alone infects more than 20 million people annually in the United States, which makes it the leading cause of illness related to the stomach.

Children are especially at risk because of close contact at schools, childcare facilities, and playgrounds. The virus gets transmitted easily from direct contact with an infected person, infected surface, and ingesting contaminated food or beverages. Infants and toddlers, with a habit of putting hands and objects into mouths, are additionally at risk.

Symptoms of Norovirus in Children

Early identification of norovirus symptoms will go a long way in treating the illness successfully. Some of the common symptoms include:

• Nausea and vomiting – More common in children than adults.
• Watery diarrhea – May cause dehydration if not well taken care of.
• Stomach cramps and pain – Usually intense and sudden.
• Mild fever and body aches – May be confused with flu.
• Sudden development of illness – Symptoms develop 24-48 hours after exposure and persist 1-3 days.

Notably, norovirus is still infectious for three days after the symptoms have vanished and thus isolation is very important to avoid further transmission.

What's The Biggest Concern for Young Children?

Dehydration is the most immediate threat posed by norovirus, particularly among infants and young children. As children quickly lose fluids from diarrhea and vomiting, parents must observe warning symptoms of severe dehydration such as:

• Dry mouth and tongue
• Decreased urine output (fewer wet diapers in an infant)
• Not crying tears
• Sunken soft spot on the top of a baby's head (fontanelle)
• Irritability, drowsiness, or lethargy

If your child shows these signs, get them to the doctor right away.

How to Care for a Child with Norovirus?

There is no treatment for norovirus, but supportive therapy can make symptoms more manageable and avoid complications.

1. Hydrate Your Child

Have your child drink small amounts of fluids like water, coconut water, or oral rehydration drinks like Pedialyte®. Breastfeeding infants should be kept on breast milk, but formula-fed babies can receive additional fluid support as directed by a physician.

2. Gradually Reintroduce Food

After vomiting stops, reintroduce easily digestible foods:

• Clear broths, ice pops, and gelatin to hydrate
• Plain foods such as dry cereal, toast, crackers, pasta, or pretzels
• The BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) to calm the stomach
• Dairy, fatty, or highly spiced foods should be avoided until digestion returns to normal.

3. Allow Plenty of Rest

Because norovirus produces fatigue, rest is needed for recovery. Keep your child comfortable with warm blankets (not for infants), disinfected toys and games, and quiet things to do such as books or cartoons.

Essential Hygiene Practices to Prevent Norovirus

It may not be easy to completely avoid norovirus during an outbreak, but you can markedly lower the risk by taking these preventive measures:

1. Practice Frequent Handwashing

The most efficient prevention of norovirus is handwashing with warm soapy water. Sanitizers don't destroy the virus, so get kids to wash their hands:

• After toilet use
• Before meals
• After handling common surfaces or toys

2. Clean High-Touch Surfaces

Norovirus lasts on surfaces for days. Clean doorknobs, tables, toys, toilets, and diaper-changing stations frequently using bleach-based disinfectants.

3. Safe Food Handling

Norovirus is transmitted by contaminated food and beverages. Be careful as follows:

• Wash produce thoroughly.
• Cook seafood through.
• Do not prepare food if you or your child are ill.

4. Keep Sick Children Home

If your child gets norovirus, keep your child out of school and daycare until the child is symptom-free for 48 hours. This keeps others from getting infected.

When to Call a Doctor

Although most norovirus infections get better on their own, call your pediatrician if your child:

• Cannot retain liquids over 24 hours
• Vomits or has diarrhea containing blood
• Demonstrates evidence of severe dehydration
• Has an unrelenting high fever
• Acts extremely lethargic or is unresponsive

Norovirus is an uncomfortable, fast-spreading illness that can take a young child down. Although most instances will pass in a few days, dehydration is a serious concern, so rest and hydration become priorities. Recognizing the signs, following good hygiene, and avoiding exposure are good ways to protect your child during norovirus outbreaks. In the case of severe symptoms, get immediate medical care.

We have all have experienced fevers, there are many different beliefs about it in different cultures and multiple ways to treat it, ranging from modern medicine to ancient practices. When one has a fever, their body feels warm and weak, they also do not have energy to do extended movements. As fevers are a range, some being slight to others being signs of dangerous conditions, dealing with them can be tricky. Things like fever dreams, conversations and thoughts are often incoherent. There are things called fever hallucinations as well, but why does this happen?

Fever means your body temperature has gone above what's normal. But what's "normal" can be a bit different for everyone and can change based on how active you are and the time of day. Generally, a fever is when your temperature is higher than 99 degrees Fahrenheit in the early morning or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit at any other time.

Do Fevers Make Us More Irritable?

In a 2013 review published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, the researchers found that not only do fevers cause people to feel cold, weak and other bodily sensations, but the participants also expressed emotional changes, vivid dreams/hallucinations.

In one of the interview with a participant from the study, researches noted them experiencing feelings of anxiousness, crabby, angry and frustrated, “Like I said, I think fever is really tied in to how you feel emotionally. Because I know every time I have a fever, I just get snotty, for lack of a better term, because I'm just really agitated.”

“I feel tired. I feel irritable”

How Is Body Heat And Brain Health Connected?

Harvard Heath explains a part of your brain called the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat for your body. When you're healthy, it keeps your body at its usual temperature. A fever happens when the hypothalamus gets set to a higher temperature than normal. This change in the brain's thermostat is usually caused by tiny things in your blood called pyrogens.

According to a 2023 review by Yale School of Medicine heat can change things in the environment, it can also change how our brains work. In a study, researchers found that even small increases in temperature while the brain is active can really change what the brain does, and sometimes these changes can be negative.

Experts from Yale explain that changes in temperature in the brain also affect how our nerve cells (neurons) fire signals. These cells have tiny pumps that give them electrical energy, which they release when the brain is active. The researchers found that if brain cells get heated up too fast, faster than these pumps can adjust, the cells might become more active or less active than usual.

Even tiny temperature changes from brain stimulation can lead to big changes in neuron activity. As neurons get warmer, they can even stop working, and when they cool down again, they can become very easily excited.

Fever Hallucinations and other Psychological Affects

According to an Infections & Chemotherapy 2022 review, fevers can cause febrile convulsions, which is a seizure caused by a fever in young kids. It can also cause confusion, like not understanding where you are, not recognizing your surroundings. It can also cause unstable emotions, conscious and cognitive disturbances like illusions on hallucinations.

These can also be symptoms for things like influenza infections or encephalitis. Like the Yale experts explained even small temperature changes can have such a big impact on brain activity, we need to start paying attention to these small changes. He points out that it's a basic rule of physics that when you send electricity through wires to stimulate the brain, you will create heat, both in the wires and in the brain tissue itself.

Researching more on these matters can help us find better treatments and help doctors change the course of several procedures to help their patients.

Turkey has banned elective caesarean surgeries for childbirth at private hospitals and healthcare centres. "Planned Caesarean sections cannot be performed in a medical centre," said a gazette entry outlining new regulations governing private healthcare institutions in Turkey. It came as the country's president, Tyyip Recep Erdogan, has been pushing hard to have women give natural births, asserting that C Section surgeries promoted Western culture.

The move has triggered massive criticism from the opposition and right-wing organisations. "As if the country had no other problems, male football players are telling women how to give birth," Gokce Gokcen, deputy chair of the main opposition CHP, on X. Meanwhile, many human rights and women's rights organisations have also raised their voices against this new law, calling it out for restricting women's rights and liberty.

ALSO READ: After HIIT, Is Jeffing The New Go-To Cardio Workout

What Is A C-Section Birth?

C-section or caesarean birth is a surgical procedure wherein a baby is delivered through incisions made in mother's abdomen and uterus. The name caesarean comes from the Latin word "caedare" which means "to cut." Interestingly, there are rumours that link the name to Roman emperor Julius Caesar, stating that he was the first person to be born via this procedure. However, there are no records of this.

However, there are many cases where a caesarean section surgery becomes almost necessary. A doctor may order a C-section if:

• Your baby is breech, or the lower part of the body is in the birth canal instead of the head.
• Your baby is in a transverse position, or lying sideways in the birth canal.
• Your baby’s head is unusually large.
• Your baby’s heartbeat is slowing down, or there is a problem with oxygen delivery to your baby.
• You are giving birth to more than one baby. Sometimes one baby will be in an abnormal position, so all of the babies are then born via C-section.
• Your baby has a birth defect that makes vaginal delivery unsafe.
• You have umbilical cord issues.
• You have health conditions that make vaginal delivery unsafe. These include high blood pressure, HIV, open herpes lesions, or heart problems.

What Are The Complications Of Having a C-Section Surgery?

There are many complications that come with this method of delivering a child. They include:

• Reactions to the medicines used during surgery
• Bleeding
• Abnormal separation of the placenta, especially in women with previous cesarean delivery
• Injury to the bladder or bowel
• Infection in the uterus
• Wound infection
• Trouble urinating or a urinary tract infection
• Delayed return of bowel function
• Blood clots

Bottom Line

Despite the potential risks and complications, C-sections are much safer than they once were. With evolution in medical science, doctors are now taking great care to make incisions that will reduce the risk of nicks to the baby and infections to the mother. Meanwhile, the use of anaesthesia, also reduces the pain of the childbirth.

ALSO READ: Dishonesty Is 'More Than A Vice', It Could Make You Sick With

Being dishonest doesn’t come naturally to people, it is a learned virtue, whether out of necessity or pleasure. When kids lie, a lot of it stems from them not wanting to get in trouble, for example, breaking a household item or doing something they were told not to do like running around inside the house. However, when people do learn to tell lies, it can become like a go to tendency for many. It is easier to make something up rather than explaining complex truths.

According to a study published in the Psychological Science 2015, kids start lying around the age of two to three years old. Their habit then progresses rapidly, till the age of 3 and 7.

Not all lies are the same, some are really small and don't hurt anyone, like saying you like someone's new haircut even though you don't. These little white lies often just help keep things smooth and make people feel good. Then there are much bigger lies, like saying someone else did something wrong when they didn't, or lying to people about money. These kinds of lies can cause a lot of damage and have bad consequences for people's lives.

Stress Response of Lying

When we know that being dishonest could really hurt how others see us, the act of lying itself makes our bodies feel stressed. When we tell a lie, things start to happen without us even thinking about it. A 2015 review published in the Current Opinion in Psychology explains that our heart might beat faster, we might start to sweat a little and our mouth can feel really dry. These physical changes are what those old-fashioned lie-detector tests used to try and pick up on.

Some people don't feel as much empathy as others, and they might not have the usual stressed reaction when they lie. The American Psychological Association explains that some people can learn to control their bodies really well and might be able to lie and still pass a lie-detector test. On the other hand, someone who is telling the truth but is just really nervous about being tested might look like they are lying.

Gut-Brain Connection and Extreme Reactions

While it's not common, some people might have a really strong physical reaction to lying, like feeling sick to their stomach or even throwing up a lot. This shows how connected our gut and our brain are. When we feel really anxious, like when we are worried about getting caught in a lie, it can actually make our stomach feel bad. So, for someone who is constantly lying and worried about it, this anxiety could potentially lead to physical sickness.

Living a life where you are often not telling the truth can actually take a toll on your health over time, not just in the moment. Research has suggested that people who lie a lot might have problems like high blood pressure, their heart might beat faster more often, their blood vessels could get tighter, and they might have more stress hormones in their bodies on a regular basis.