Thoughts about the Norovirus (long rant, have fun)

Hi guys, I'm new here, but not to Emetophobia. You can call me Otter! I'm 27 years old and I work as a Library Technician. I've had Emetophobia literally as long as I can remember (I've been exhibiting germophobic behaviors since I was a toddler!). It's nice to meet you all.

Lately I've really been struggling with my Emetophobia. It's probably the worst it's ever been. I used to feel "safe" at home-- for example, when I'd come home from work, and give my hands a good 30 second washing and then wouldn't worry about contamination at home-- but recently I've lost that comfort. Now even at home I have to wash my hands constantly and I get huge rushes of anxiety when I absently touch my mouth or touch something that goes in my mouth, like my toothbrush or the rim of a glass. It's really exhausting because I'm constantly hypervigilant. It's really affecting my ability to work and enjoy life because all I can think of is contamination. I've even started breaking out in stress rashes that I can't stop itching whenever I think of v*ing.

Now, I'm sure what we're all the most terrified of here is the dreaded Norovirus. It's what causes the lion's share of SV outbreaks. It's pretty easy to avoid most other causes of SV, but the Norovirus is not.

There's a really awful website-- I'm sure you've been there yourselves-- called stopthestomachflu.com (if you've never been there DON'T GO! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THAT TO YOURSELF. Seriously, I think this woman is secretly doing everything she does on purpose to torment Emetophobes.) that treats the Norovirus like it's some kind of explosive mutation of Ebola and AIDs that fused together in hell and crawled it's way up to Earth to wreak chaos and ruins all our lives. But honestly, it leaves me kind of confused.

Like I said, I'm 27. I haven't v*ed in about 15 years. I live with my parents, and for a long portion of that time my brother lived with us too, and in that 15 years, NONE of us have v*ed due to a SV. My dad has had kidney stones once or twice and the pain caused him to v*, and my brother once ran a mile after drinking a pint of chocolate milk and v*ed (it was for charity or something? lol) but never due to a SV. And EVEN when my brother and I were really young and had our rounds of SVs, my parents never caught our pestilence. I've also never caught anything from my brother and my brother's never caught anything from me.

If the Norovirus is so apocalyptically contagious, why haven't any of us been sick with it in 15 or more years? None of us are blood type B (which I've heard is immune to the symptoms of Norovirus). My parents don't share my phobia and are only as hygienic as your average person. I've been working at libraries for like... 5 years now? I'm very hygienic there, use hand spray constantly, never touch my mouth, but anyone that works in Youth Services can tell you it's vector of disease in there. I've seen kids v* there (parents, STOP TAKING YOUR SICK KIDS TO PUBLIC PLACES) and still haven't had an SV myself.

So if Wikipedia is right-- if Norovirus can live on surfaces for weeks, if people who feel better are constantly shedding it, if it's carried in saliva, if it's floating in the air, if it only takes 10 microscopic particles to get sick, if there's a new strain of it out every year-- why aren't we all wading knee deep in an ocean of v*? It doesn't make any sense. People get colds every year (I sure do, even when I'm so hygienic!) but they don't get SVs, even when they're supposedly more contagious.

What are your thoughts? Does the Norovirus leave you confused, like it does me? Do "facts" you get online and reality not match up for you either? I'd really like to know what all of you think.

Thanks for your time.

Oh my gosh I've been feeling the same way~
I'm currently 17 turning 18 and other than a bout of Rotavirus as a baby, no one in my family has ever caught it, not even my sister who's still only 12...my parents have said they don't even think they've ever caught it...and to say the least all four of us are blood type O...and before last year I was still emetophobic but didn't know about the existence of viruses and such...so I had very bad hygiene habits (from the eyes of an emetophobe that is, like eating in public without washing hands, not washing for at least 30 seconds after using bathroom), yet when my friend had it towards the end of the year I suddenly learnt of it and got very scared...I google my city with the words "gastro" or "flu" everyday just to check if any news reports have come out...ik that's really bad for anxiety but I just can't help it! :(

I lived in precious ignorance like that for awhile. I was still anxious, but not as anxious as I am now.

another NV question: Why is there an NV "season"? Is it the same reason why Influenza has a season? Just because people are indoors more? Or because it doesn't survive as well in hot, sunny conditions?

My mother visits my grandma, who has bad dementia, in the nursing home every week too. The elderly, especially those with memory care issues, have terrible hygiene, and they're stuck in those close quarters with each other-- gives me the shivers just thinking about it! I don't know how she's never gotten sick after all these years.

Sorry for forgetting to censor stuff sometimes, I'm still new.