To understand the most effective way to prevent an outbreak of Norovirus in the Sunrise Nursing Home facility, you should first understand the way Norovirus can be transmitted, relevant precautions, such as the use of isolation, Personal Protective Equipment, and vigorous hand hygiene, that the health carer should take to prevent further transmission of the disease, and finally, specific care that would need to be given to people that have been infected with norovirus
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Norovirus is a viral microorganism which carries just nine protein-coding genes (humans have 20000). Even with that very skimpy genetic toolkit, norovirus' can break open the cells and slip in, where they lack our own DNA in order to make more norovirus' (Zimmer, 2013). As the name suggests, norovirus is a viral infection, meaning that it relies almost completely on the host organism to survive as a virus is merely genetic material surrounded by a protein coat. They cannot be destroyed by antibiotics, and there is no vaccine available for the Norovirus due to the constant changing nature of the disease. Within 24 hours of infection, the norovirus' have rewired the digestive system and reprogrammed it to eject all matter in the digestive system, especially in the stomach and colon (Gilpin, 2004). Like all infectious diseases, norovirus transmissions the result of the infection chain remaining intact (Crisp, Taylor, Douglas and Rebeiro, 2013 p. 704). There are many ways that norovirus is transmitted in a facility such as a nursing home: according to the CDC, norovirus is shed from the body through the faeces or vomit of the infected person. Norovirus causes intense bouts of diarrhoea and what is known in layman's terms as 'projectile vomiting' which releases aerosolised particles of the vomit into the air, which settles on surfaces and food, and can be inhaled by uninfected persons in surrounding areas.