Students At Two Triangle Universities Feel Effects Of Norovirus

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Norovirus is a gastrointestinal virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea. Campus doctors have been treating students for a couple of weeks.

"It's pretty gross. People are getting really sick and in really nasty ways," graduate student Brad Profitt said.

Health officials said the norovirus has now sickened more than 225 students at North Carolina State University. N.C. State officials have been trying to track down the source of the virus, but they have not found anything in common among the patients.

"We've had days where all of our in-patient beds -- where we can observe for a few hours -- those have been full within an hour of opening in the morning," said Dr. Mary Bengston, of N.C. State Student Health Services.

N.C. State is not the only campus in the Triangle affected by the norovirus.

Another 27 cases of the norovirus have recently been reported at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In January, nearly 300 UNC students were sick with the norovirus. It was traced back to the salad bar at a campus dining hall.

Doctors do not know if cases at UNC and N.C. State are related.