It was a complete and total barfarama . . .

Yikes – remember this?

Winter vomiting bug sweeps UK

LONDON (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of people have been struck down by a highly infectious stomach bug that swept the United Kingdom during the holiday period, doctors said on Thursday.

The Royal College of General Practitioners, which represents 27,000 family doctors, estimates that 100,000 people a week caught the norovirus bug, which causes vomiting and diarrhea.

“GPs are seeing a huge number of cases of patients with the norovirus,” said its chairman Professor Steve Field. “Our advice for those affected is to stay at home, take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids.”

The UK’s Health Protection Agency, the body that monitors infectious diseases, said the number of cases reported in early winter was the highest since 2002 and double the total this time last year.

The virus is most common in colder months and is also known as the winter vomiting bug. Outbreaks are often reported in places like hospitals, schools and cruise ships.

More.

I remember back in 2002 when this was going around and everyone I knew got it. When it hit the house I was living in at the time it started with our downstairs roommate and then made its way up the stairs to my neighbor and then to me.

Nothing like sitting on the toliet with a bucket in your hands.

The last one to get it was my buddy Dave who was an avowed hypochondriac. I am sure he thought he was suffering from cholera or some other 3rd-world nastiness. In fact, I think I may have gotten a panicked call asking about cholera symptoms. 🙂

Let’s hope this stays on the other side of the pond . . . don’t forget to wash your hands!