You’re hunkered over the toilet praying you’re not gonna throw up again or you’re curled up on the couch waiting for the next rush of cramps sending you speeding back to the bathroom. Most of us have been there and it’s no fun. Sometimes you just tough it out at home and sometimes it gets so bad you have to see the doctor.
Gastroenteritis goes by several names; belly flu, traveler’s diarrhea, food poisoning and infectious diarrhea. Whatever you call it, it is a significant problem for people around the world. It is caused when the lining of your intestines is irritated or inflamed and is caused by both viruses and bacteria.
Rotavirus is the most common cause in kids and the Norovirus is the most common cause in adults. But you may have heard of the Norwalk virus recently causing horrible outbreaks of gastroenteritis on some cruises. The Norwalk virus is a strain of the Norovirus and sometimes people use the names interchangeably.
