Food poisoning, stomach virus, what? & What to do?

[LROM]

So for the 2nd time while BF dd I thought I had food poisoning Friday. 1st time dd was about 8 months old, now she's 17 months.

I called her Ped the 1st time and they told me to definitely keep breastfeeding, that it wouldn't pass on to dd through milk. So I threw up for 24 hrs or so, didn't keep anything down during that time, then felt better and figured it had passed. 24 hrs in between of no problem, then 2 nights after I first threw up, dd threw up. And then threw up several times the next day.

When it happened the 1st time I thought "Oh, thought it was food poisoning but maybe stomach virus and I gave it to her some other way than milk...?"

This time I'm SURE it was food poisoning (at least the chain of events just really seems to suggest it) but the same thing happened again, first I was sick, then a day of both of us fine, then last night and today she's vomiting.

And both times she didn't eat what I ate in terms of the food I think made me sick.

KellyMom confirms that regardless of stomach virus or food poisoning, you should keep breastfeeding. But my question is still, what the heck was that?? Anyone know how to tell the difference? And how did I give it to her, or is this a wild crazy coincidence twice now?

[PatioGardener]

very easy to pass on a virus like norovirus by living with someone (spread by contact). as far as i know, no 'food poisoning' - virus, bacteria or toxin - passes through breastmilk.

ps most gi viruses have a 24-48 hour incubation period - so the timeline fits.

nak.

[LROM]

Thanks, I never heard of norovirus before, just looked it up, learned a lot. Now I'm remembering that before I got sick, dd had diarrhea but no vomiting. Must've gotten it at daycare, then I got it and vomited, then maybe she got it back again?

Either way, next time I'll take much more care re: her diarrhea, maybe I didn't wash as well as I thought I did after a diaper change.

Thanks for the info!

[pumpkinhead]

Food poisoning is passed via contact (fecal oral). You can become a bleach toting fiend during a stomach virus/food poisoning and depending on what it is, you can still pass it on. Norovirus is especially contagious.

[Llyra]

Norovirus is incredibly contagious, and preventing transmission through ordinary cleaning is very difficult. You could tote bleach and alcohol sanitizer and Lysol and soak every surface in the house, and sanitize yourself a thousand times, and still pass it on. It's a very hardy virus. I've basically resigned myself to the fact that when one person in the house gets vomiting illnesses, the rest of us are doomed.

[LROM]

So then another question re: norovirus or other vomiting viruses: if dd gets it at daycare, then I get it, then dh gets it... can that straing make another round or are we done at least with that specific strain?

It's bad enough that everyone gets sick once, but if it's something that the same strain can endlessly be passed around, I might just become one of those bleach-toting sanitizing mamas!

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

Usually once you have one specific strain, you develop antibodies for it, and never get it again. Which is why when someone says,"oh my son gave me this cold, and then I gave it back to him again" I fight the urge to say, um, no, I dont think it works that way.

Their are hundreds of different cold, GI, and strep strains, which is why you can get a cold, stomach bug, strep, and then cold again, all in the same year. Sometimes you end up with two different bugs because you catch one, and then because of your comporimised immune system, catch another.

So if your daughter had diarhea, that could be one strain, but then you caught something else, and then gave that to HER another couple days later. The vommitting might have NOTHING to do with the diarhea. OR, her vommitting and diarhea were the SAME bug, she just went symptom free for a few days.

[LROM]

Thanks, I think I understand.

I'm putting down the bleach and backing slowly away from the hand sanitizer...

Thanks everyone, that's all very helpful.

[PatioGardener]

fyi, hand sanitizer must be at least 70% alcohol to kill norovirus. regular soap and water are your best bet to prevent spread.

nak