Forget H1N1, a few weeks back, we learned via Soho the Dog about an even more disturbing mutation of the flu virus. Matthew recalls the trauma, “I spent a sleepless hour or two imagining ethereally audience-friendly Eric-Whitacre-esque five-part choral settings.” That’s enough to put anybody on their backs for a good week.

Like the regular flu, the disease is usually self-limiting, and characterized by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain; and in some cases, loss of taste. General lethargy, weakness, muscle aches, headache, and low-grade fever may occur. Symptoms may persist for several days and may become life-threatening in the young, the elderly, and the immune-compromised if dehydration is ignored or not treated. When a person becomes infected with norovirus, the virus begins to multiply within the small intestine. After approximately 1 to 2 days, norovirus symptoms can appear. It has also been reported that the virus will cause ones hair to grow into a long flowing mane in just a matter of days.

The most disturbing fact about the Eric Whitacre Norovirus as Matthew discovered is that “transmission is predominantly faecal-oral but may be airborne due to aerosolisation of vomitus.” So if you happen to catch the virus, we know how you got it.