A virus is spreading around Georgetown University, but not one of those embarrassing ones that affect you, ahem, down there...just a regular old gross, vomit-inducing one called norovirus.It’s highly contagious and more than 170 students have caught it in the past few days.

The norovirus causes nausea, vomiting and dehydration, as well as stomach cramping, fever, headaches and diarrhea. Pleasant, huh? Most of the students afflicted visited the hospital and were released, but the virus usually lasts on a day or two.
 

Though the origin of the disease on campus is unknown, Georgetown is doing all it can to contain the spreading throw-up machine. The Washington Post reports:

Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said school officials are scouring such high-contact areas as bathrooms, doorknobs and handrails; cleaning more intensively than usual across campus; and going through dorms to find students who might not be feeling well. They held a forum yesterday afternoon to explain the situation to students, emphasizing the importance of prevention, particularly hand-washing and cleanliness, and set up a hotline for parents.

The campus dining hall, which college administrators closed before dawn Wednesday when alerted to the first wave of sick students, reopened last night after being inspected and sanitized.

Hand-washing and a clean dining hall are probably good things to value anyway, so we can thank the virus for those improvements at least.
 

Other than that, until the norovirus clears up on its own (there is no cure), students will just have to stick it out and get familiar with the bathroom stalls. But really what’s a little vomiting here or there? People should be thrilled… At least everyone on campus will be looking nice and skinny.