Boston University Student Health Services is warning students to observe strict hygiene to prevent contracting the return of the norovirus, which infected many students in West Campus dormitories last year.

Highly contagious, the norovirus, one of a few strains of bacteria that lead to viral gastroenteritis — the stomach flu — recently began affecting Allston residents, according to a Jan.17 Boston Globe article.

“While [SHS] hadn’t seen any cases of the norovirus directly, last week we saw a higher number of gastroenteritis cases,” said Student Health Services Director Dr. David McBride.

People infected with the virus usually experience symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and nausea not treatable by antibiotics, McBride said.

“Viral gastroenteritis is generally quite contagious,” he said in an email. “Students live in close quarters where infections can easily spread. Often, students don’t practice hygiene as carefully as they could. All of these facts make a college campus a setup for an outbreak.

“There have been gastroenteritis cases since before break, in December,” he continued. “Boston was seeing an increased incidence of vomiting and diarrhea cases.”

According to the Globe article, more than 3,700 people suffering from norovirus symptoms have visited Boston emergency rooms in the last six weeks.

McBride said students who do not adequately wash their hands after using the bathroom are at great risk of infection because they might have had contact with surfaces where the virus may live. Students then can spread the virus by coming in contact with others.

Although norovirus cases are affecting residents in the Allston area, some students said they do not believe the virus will grow to become a serious concern.

“I didn’t know that it was spreading,” said College of General Studies sophomore Rachel Cohen, who lives in Allston. “Personally, I’m not worried about contracting it.”

Cohen, who shares an apartment with her roommate, said their cleaning habits will prevent them from catching the virus.

“We’re pretty good about keeping ourselves clean, and we don’t usually have many people over at the house that could give us the virus,” she said. “It’s not like living in the dorm where everyone is in such close contact with everyone else.”

After the norovirus outbreak affecting West Campus residents spread almost one year ago, McBride said SHS is adopting different measures to help prevent another epidemic, including promoting hygiene education with flyers in on-campus residence halls and collaborating with dining services.

“We are monitoring cases of gastroenteritis, and we are encouraging students to carefully wash their hands,” he said. “We have distributed hand-washing posters to the dorms. We are working with dining services on eliminating self-service lines for now.”

Some students said they would not go to SHS if infected with norovirus because they prefer to see physicians they have previously seen.

“If I were really sick with norovirus, I would rather see a doctor who knew me, or my friends or family,” Cohen said. “If I were that sick, I would just rather be with a doctor I could feel comfortable with as opposed to someone I really don’t know.”

Students who have recently been infected with the virus said they did not see the point in receiving SHS medication, because there is little SHS can offer to cure the virus, which McBride said requires staying hydrated, resting and ultimately, patience,

“Medicine can help with nausea and vomiting,” he said. “Sometimes medicine like Imodium or Kaopectate will slow diarrhea. It usually takes three days for the symptoms to subside, but one should allow a week to 10 days to fully recuperate.”

CGS freshman Kyley Cheever, who contracted a stomach virus as a result of the norovirus, said “it would be better just to try and rest.”

“I was continually feeling nauseous and sick,” she said. “I had constant stomach cramps and the urge to throw up a lot.

“I didn’t know what Student Health Services could really do for my stomach flu,” she continued. “I just rested and made sure to keep my hygiene up along with drinking a lot of fluids. I thought it would just be best to try and wait it out.”