The number of people in the UK suspected to have norovirus is currently more the twice than usual number seen over the past five years.
As per Sky News, the increase in cases is being driven by a specific strain of virus.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reported 105 suspected norovirus outbreaks this year.
This number is 27.4% higher than the average of 82 suspected outbreaks that typically occur over the past five seasons.
Norovirus also known as the “winter vomiting bug,” is the most frequent cause of vomiting and diarrhoea caused by infection.
It spreads quickly when people touch surfaces that have the virus on them or by being close to someone who is infected.
The UKHSA has said in a statement, "It is likely that multiple factors contributed to the observed increase in laboratory reports, such as ongoing changes to the epidemiology following the COVID-19 pandemic or changes in testing and reporting to national surveillance.”
It added, “Further work to understand the drivers of the increased reporting is under way."
Out of the 105 suspected norovirus outbreaks reported to the Hospital Norovirus Outbreak Reporting System (HNORS) this year, 85 of them were confirmed to be caused by norovirus.
