friend is sick and I'm terrified

[darkcomesoon]

norovirus is apparently going around my college and now my friend has it and I was told she was up v*ing all night and it sounds awful. she knows I have emetophobia so she'll be understanding when I can't be near her but I'm scared that my other friends won't be as careful. most of all, I'm scared that my girlfriend's friends who know the sick friend too won't be careful enough and they'll get my girlfriend sick and now I'm scared to kiss her because she could be sick at any time and it could be the day before she got symptoms and neither of us would know. I'm washing my hands obsessively and I'll be avoiding my friend until she's completely better but I can't get rid of the feeling that everything and everyone around me could be infected and I'm scared the anxiety about v*ing might make me stop eating and I just don't have enough coping methods to deal with this situation. advice?

[mary922]

You can't actually catch it from your girlfriend until she actually gets ill, so you have nothing to worry about with that unless she starts showing symptoms! As far as general advice if you continue to wash your hands and keep them away from your face you will be fine, I don't know if this is an option as well (and I'm sure would be feeding the phobia) but where I go to school some meals are prepared by other students and I don't think they're great about hygiene so if I knew it was going around on campus I avoided the dining halls and either made my meals myself or ordered in.