COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) - Spring is just around the corner, but there’s still snow in the forecast for this week and norovirus is also still lingering.  That’s according to a recent warning issued by the Community Health Center of Branch County.

It follows a similar advisory issued two weeks ago by the Health Department in Coldwater. The norovirus can have can have a big impact on people’s health in as little as two days of exposure.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Injury Prevention, the norovirus is estimated to be responsible for more than half of all food-borne disease outbreaks each year. The norovirus is the most common cause of diarrhea in adults and the second most common cause in children.  It can also cause vomiting and stomach cramps.  It is in a group of viruses known as gastroenteritis. Noroviruses are sometimes called food poisoning, as well as the stomach flu, although it is not the influenza virus.

Most of these symptoms aren’t considered serious. Children and the elderly are most susceptible to dehydration, as well as malnutrition from not getting enough of the appropriate nutrients. Like other viruses, the norovirus will not respond to antibiotics, which are designed to kill bacteria.  The illness should go away on its own within a couple of days in most healthy people.