Please help!!!!!!

Hi guys!

I'm new here so please pardon my ignorance if this has been posted before (I'm sure it has!)

I just got home from having dinner with my parents. On our way out the door, there was a faint hint of (you know) in the air and the odor was extremely strong as we walked through the doorway. It had obviously been cleaned up, but I had my mouth open and briefly smelled it before I held by breath.

Questions.. can this still make you get sick? What if it was a restaurant employee who got sick and they had touched our food (some of mine was cold!!)? I am SO freaking out. I'm flying back to the UK tomorrow and knew something like this would happen!

I am so severely afraid, I would genuinely rather die than throw up. I'm also deathly afraid of flying so looks like my worst nightmare might come true..

Help talk me off of this ledge because I am shaking and panicking so badly! My throat is dry, too. Great..

I don't think you'll get sick. You walked super briefly and as soon as you realized the scent you ignored it.
I think you'll be fine, actually! (this is gonna sound awfully gross, but..) unless you're really close to it, then you'll be fine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gemini

I don't think you'll get sick. You walked super briefly and as soon as you realized the scent you ignored it.
I think you'll be fine, actually! (this is gonna sound awfully gross, but..) unless you're really close to it, then you'll be fine.

---

Thank you so much for your reply! I smelled a waft and literally opened the first door, briefly smelled it (it was strong!), and walked outside to join my parents. But I wasn't actually around the person who v*. It's Halloween and there weren't any children as far as I could see. I'm hoping it was just a poor person who had too much alcohol :( Hoping they feel better!!!!

My mom laughed and said, "Did you smell that?" I said I briefly did. It lingered in her nose until we got home. It's lingered in my throat (you know when it gets dry?) I just figured that surely that means if it were contagious we would get it.

My nurse friend said that if it wasn't cleaned up properly you could definitely catch it. Which doesn't help!

Your friend has omitted one important thing: even though improperly cleaned vomit is contagious, it's usually by touching it and then touching food/your mouth. The smell can't contaminate you. Basically the only two ways you can get it are by being sprayed by droplets if someone vomits or has diarrhea right next to you (I think the radius is a few meters where you are likely to be exposed) and the droplets only stay airborne for a few minutes; or if you touch a contaminated surface that hasn't been disinfected properly and you then touch something you end up putting in your mouth (there's speculation touching your eyes/nose can contaminate you as well, since they drain into the throat and stomach). You'll be fine on that count.

As for this potentially being an ill employee who prepared your food, that's hard to tell, and that is more risky. But just walking next to a puddle of vomit is usually innocuous, unless it just happened less than a few minutes ago.