What Is A "Stomach Virus?" 

Is A Stomach Virus The Same As The Stomach Flu?

"Stomach virus" is a commonly used synonym for viral gastroenteritis. It's also referred to as "stomach flu" even though it's not a form of influenza. It is also sometimes called a "stomach bug."

The goal of this section of our website is to answer basic questions about viral gastroenteritis like what is a stomach virus, how do you get the stomach virus, symptoms of the stomach virus, and stomach virus remedies. Our articles are intended for readers with no medical training or background. They are not written for medical professionals.

Cause of a stomach virus

Viral gastroenteritis can be extremely contagious, and in fact is the second most common illness in the United States. There are millions of cases related to one strain of stomach virus or another each year, and many go unreported. People who have viral gastroenteritis often say they feel "sick to their stomach."

The cause of a stomach virus could be one of several different "bugs." including

• rotaviruses,
• noroviruses,
• adenoviruses,
• sapoviruses, and
• astroviruses.

Anyone can get a viral gastroenteritis and most people recover without any complications. But dehydration resulting from vomiting and diarrhea is a serious danger, especially for persons who are disabled, persons with weak immune systems, the elderly, and very young children.

How long does a stomach virus last?

Stomach flu duration varies depending on the form of virus that has infected the gastrointestinal tract. With a norovirus, the stomach flu duration is usually only a day or two. A rotavirus infection lasts longer, with a duration that generally extends from 3 to 9 days.

Since viral gastroenteritis is caused by a virus and not bacteria, antibiotics are not effective. There are medications available for treating stomach virus symptoms, however.

Food poisoning or stomach virus

Symptoms of the stomach virus are very similar to the symptoms of food poisoning: cramping, vomiting, nausea, fever and diarrhea.  In the first few hours of discomfort they're difficult to tell apart. Generally food poisoning lasts a few hours, while viral gastroenteritis lasts at least a day.

If other people who ate the same food you did during a meal, and they don't get sick awithin a few hours, it's probably a sign that you have stomach flu. This can be difficult to determine, naturally, if you ate at a restaurant.

You can visit your doctor and provide a stoll sample that can be analyzed in a lab. This will provide an answer to the question of food poisoning or stomach virus. By the time you get the results from the lab, however, both your food poisoning and your stomach flu may have already resolved.

See our related aricle on foods for stomach flu.