SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — A stomach virus has been going around the past couple of weeks, and some people are ending up in the hospital.
Symptoms from this stomach virus include prolonged diarrhea up to two weeks, vomiting, fever, body aches and general feelings of weakness.
"It is very difficult to treat. Most of our interventions focus on avoiding dehydration," said Dr. Elise Morel, lead physician at Virtua Urgent Care.
According to Morel, the virus moves easily from person to person, including kids and babies. She said it's important to make sure children drink plenty of water.
"Looking at how much kids are able to take in," she advised, "and keeping an eye on are they making urine, what kind of urine output are they having?"
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Dr. Nick Tomasello at Jefferson Cherry Hill reiterated that staying hydrated is the most important thing to do if you get sick.
"Water tends to be best in terms of replenishing fluids, but whatever you like to drink, as long as it’s mixed down with a little bit of water is fine," he said.
Are our immune systems a little weaker after two years of mask-wearing and social distancing? Both said there is probably something to that, and Tomasello thinks recently relaxed rules on masking plus more big gatherings may be factors as well.
[The pandemic] kind of created a perfect storm almost for the virus to spread. We definitely have had a pretty significant increase in not just GI viruses but also upper respiratory and all types of viruses," said Tomasello.
Both physicians also urged people to wipe down high-touch surfaces and kids' toys frequently, because the virus can survive for weeks on things like door knobs.
Philadelphia still strongly recommends wearing masks. More on the Jawncast.