Vomiting Heaves Upward In NYC, Data Shows

NEW YORK CITY — A new problem is being hurled at New Yorkers: vomiting.

Vomiting was the chief complaint for more than 48,000 emergency department visits citywide since November, health data shows.

Between then and mid-February, those daily vomiting visits rose 65 percent, according to the data. Those visits have slowed in recent weeks, but stand at more than 400 a day.

So, what's driving the surge in purging? The rise coincided with an increase in cases of norovirus, a common intestinal bug.

“Norovirus is also known as the ‘stomach flu,’ but it’s not related to the flu or influenza virus,” said TingTing Wong in a PSA published by New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.

But as a recent Gothamist report detailed, pinning the vomiting upchuck on the norovirus isn't a sure thing. The virus simply isn't tracked as closely as others such as the coronavirus, according to the report.

What data is publicly available shows that tests for norovirus have gone from 4 percent positivity in November to 15 percent during the last week of February in the Northeast, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The symptoms of norovirus — vomiting, diarrhea, nausea stomach cramps, fever, chills, aches and tiredness — also partly overlap with the increase in emergency room visits.

The virus is easily spread through contact with infected people, as well as touching infected surfaces and objects such as utensils, diapers and food and drinks, according to the city's health department.

While the norovirus has no specific treatment, there is a silver lining: people, while uncomfortable, will get better on their own fairly quickly.

“It impacts the stomach and colon and is very contagious, but for people who are generally healthy, they’re sick for about two to three days and feel better afterwards," Wong said in the New York-Presbyterian publication.