Norovirus Facts (warning: might trigger!)

[shivela1036]

As I've mentioned on here before, I'm a nurse. I got most of this info straight from my hospital's infectious disease department, mixed in with a little of my own medical-evidence-based research.

I will say: THIS MIGHT NOT BE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO READ! After I learned this info, I was at first upset that I knew it because it caused me even more anxiety. Noro is a tricky little virus. But, in the end, I'm glad to know it because 1) knowledge is helpful in knowing what's realistic and what's not and 2) hopefully I can use this info to prevent getting noro.

I wanted to share these little tips I've gathered in hopes that it'll help you feel more realistic and prepared about noro, too.

SO, read at your own risk, know that I am not any sort of medically-binding or legally-binding source, just someone with a slight obsession with and way too much knowledge on infection control....and know that it might also make you feel a little more creeped out by noro....

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1) Norovirus is not killed by hand sanitizer.
Hand washing with soap and water is the most effective way to get rid of it - use warm water, any kind of soap (doesn't have to be antibacterial), wash for ~15 seconds, dry with a clean towel or paper towel. The runner-up way to get rid of it is hand sanitizer wipes (not the gel), and make sure you wipe well. The friction in scrubbing your hands together or wiping your hands off thoroughly is what helps get a lot of the bugs off of your hands.

2) Norovirus is NOT "the flu".
Influenza, while very contagious and can be dangerous, is a completely different, mostly respiratory illness causing fever, aches, respiratory symptoms, sometimes d*, but rarely ever v* in adults. The flu shot won't protect you from norovirus (though you SHOULD get a flu shot anyway!), and if someone says they have "the flu" they might mean influenza instead of the "stomach flu" (aka noro). Also, since it's a virus, antibiotics won't help it.

3) People can be contagious with noro ~3 days before having symptoms and several days after feeling better.
I don't know what to say about this other than what the heck that is awful.

4) Norovirus is not killed by Lysol or other such cleaners.
Use gloves and a bleach solution if you need to clean a surface. Yay bleach! The CDC recommends 5-25 tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water to make a cleaning solution.


The Good News:
Hand washing is great. Hand wipes are sold at many places. Spring will be here before we know it. You can handle this!

[Dairyfreelife]

Wet Ones do kill norovirus, at least they can help thanks to the ingredient benzethonium chloride. It is regular antibacterial gels that are a concern. There are still studies on whether or not alcohol kills noroviruses, but so far it looks promising. For now, there are some that definitely do help.
http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/list_g_norovirus.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/preventing-infection.html

No, you are not usually contagious with noro before you are sick. You can be contagious with rotavirus though, but that is mostly a childhood stomach bug. Norovirus CAN be found in the stool BEFORE you are sick and same for after you are feeling better, but the incubation is up 72 hours, usually 48 hours after contact, so highly unlikely you will have three days to spread it. And you can be around a sick person and not get sick. They are contagious when they throw up or have diarrhea, but bleach will kill it if you clean the areas where it happened after getting ill.

And yes, washing hands regularly is the best way to stop the spread. And yes, we can get through winter. It will all be okay.

[Syrup]

You should speak to someone at your hospital as they are giving out faulty information. My pediatrician has pamphlets in her waiting room that has the info from the CDC website. Perhaps you could speak to someone at your hospital to do the same?

http://www.cdc.gov/features/norovirus/

As you can see, you AREN'T contagious until you begin to show symptoms, if it were true that you were spreading around 3 days prior to showing symptoms there would be HUGE outbreaks instead of the mere 8% of Americans that contract Noro each year. Besides that, the average time that the virus is in the body before showing symptoms is 36 hours, so realistically, on average people don't even HAVE the virus in their bodies for 3 full days before falling ill.

Your 4th point if faulty as well. Lysol III DOES kill the virus as you can read on their website. We live on a military base and the disease control here is adamant about using protects that protect the forces to ensure viruses don't spread easily. Lysol is an approved cleaning source.

I'm not picking on you and hope you aren't reading this response that way, but I do find it concerning that your workplace is giving out bad information to the public. Please DO speak to someone to get that corrected. Information is power!

[Hannah A.]

There are certain types of hand sanitizer that kill noro. For example, Germstar has a kind that does. Has to have at least 63 percent ethyl alcohol.