Winter vomiting bug starts a month early: official figures So far this season there have been 1207 cases of norovirus confirmed with laboratory tests in England, which are considered to the tip of the iceberg with thousands more people suffering symptoms without seeking medical help or being tested. This is 27 per cent higher than at the same time last year when there had been 954 laboratory confirmed cases and higher than any year since 2007/8. Laboratory tests are subject to delay so the real figure is likely to be higher and will continue to rise, experts said. The disease which causes violent sudden onset vomiting and diarrhoea can be life threatening to vulnerable elderly people and very young children but usually clears itself within two days in otherwise healthy adults. It can be spread though poor hand hygiene. Figures from NHS Direct show the south west, north east, south east central region, south central and Wales have been the hardest hit in the last week, with more than five per cent of calls related to vomiting symptoms. GP consultations mirror the figures also with consulations about norovirus and rotavirus symptoms above average with between 12 per cent of adults and 25 per cent of children given oral rehydration powders to combat the disease. Hospital outbreaks are also up on last year the HPA figures show, with 49 outbreaks reported in October last year and 89 this year. The majority of the outbreaks resulted in wards or parts of wards being closed to new patients as the infection was cleared. This causes major disruption to the running of the hospital as staff fall ill and there are fewer beds available to admit patients to. Antrim Area Hospital in Nothern Ireland reported an outbreak with 18 patients and staff suffering symptoms earlier this week. Visitors were not allowed into the affected parts of the hospital. John Harris, an epidemiologist specialising in the surveillance of norovirus at the HPA said: "We are now seeing an increase in norovirus activity; infections due to norovirus tend to increase from late autumn each year Since beginning of October we have seen a rise in the number of laboratory reports of norovirus, this number of laboratory reports in recent weeks is higher in comparison to the same weeks in previous years. However, norovirus activity fluctuates and no two years of norovirus activity are the same. Norovirus is highly infectious; swallowing as few as 10 to 100 virus particles is enough to cause illness. Symptoms include a sudden onset of vomiting - which can be projectile in nature - and/or diarrhoea - which may be profuse and watery. Some people may also have a temperature, headache and stomach cramps. The illness usually completely resolves in one or two days and there are no long term effects. Because it is highly infectious it causes widespread disruption particularly in hospitals and care homes were there may be vulnerable people. People who are infected with norovirus should drink plenty of fluid to keep hydrated. Unless symptoms persist for more than three or four days people should not go to their GP or hospital but seek advice over the telephone from NHS Direct. It is important to practice good hand hygiene and avoid food preparation until 48 hours after symptoms have finished.