We all know the stomach bug is the worst, and is only compounded when you have it while trying to care for other people who also have it. The good news is, the stomach bug is more avoidable than people think. We’ve all heard it said that when one person in the house gets it, everyone gets it. That’s often true, but it absolutely doesn’t need to be.
I put an end to that saying in my own house (myself, wife and two young kids) and will share what I believe to be effective at stopping the spread. Some of this you’ll know, and some, I hope, will be new.
First – what is the stomach bug? The stomach bug is the common name for an illness caused mostly by Norovirus.
Second – how does one get the bug? We contract it by getting the virus in our mouths. Infected people shed this virus in their vomit and stool. In fact, they shed billions of them through both. It takes fewer than 100 of them getting in your body to give you the bug.
Those numbers sound a little daunting, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Unlike the flu, common cold, etc, you don’t get the stomach bug by being in the same room with someone who has it. It’s not floating in the air like an aerosol. In fact, even if you get puked on, you can still avoid getting it.
Ok, so we know what it is and how we get it. Now for how we can avoid it.
Let’s imagine someone gets sick, and we have a point source where the virus exists within a house. Billions of them. This is where I hope to share some new information with you.
What do you do in this situation? If you’re like most, as I’ve found, you reach for that blue and white spray can and soak the area. Maybe even hit the doorknob and toilet. There’s a problem with that, and you’ll see it when you read the back of the can for a list of viruses that it kills. Norovirus is not one of them. This is a problem if you’ve been “disinfecting” everything with your favorite blue and white spray can. Is that you? Because it was absolutely me.
What you need, is a Norovirus disinfectant like Clorox’s Healthcare Hydrogen Peroxide-based disinfectant which actually kills Norovirus. Follow the instructions regarding the amount of time the disinfectant needs to remain on the virus to be effective.
Now, when you get done cleaning up the soiled surface, or caring for someone who is ill, do you ever reach for hand sanitizer? Great, if it was the common cold. Unfortunately, hand sanitizer doesn’t kill Norovirus. Again – this was me. Turns out, the virus itself is enclosed in a capsid and alcohol at the concentrations in most hand sanitizers cannot get through it. Who knew?
Hand washing is your best bet. This piece of information may come in handy for those times when you’re out of the house in public and slather yourself or your kids up with hand sanitizer so their hands are “clean” to eat. Better to wash up with soap and water for 20+ seconds if possible.
Those two bits of information will go a long way towards avoiding the bug. My next advice comes from a handful of years as a bit of a germaphobe.
If you know that stool and vomit carry billions of virus particles, that should give you a good visual for how far it can spread. If you’re someone with the bug and you get sick, where are you headed next? Probably the sink to wash up. You’re going to touch the faucet knob. You’re going to grab the toothpaste and your toothbrush. If you brush your teeth a second time, your brush will come into contact with the toothpaste that others use and deposit virus particles there.
In this scenario, the faucet knob (top, bottom) gets sprayed with an effective disinfectant. So does the inside of the sink, the doorknob, the light switch, and the toilet (including the handle). The toothbrush should be kept somewhere separate, and that person should use a separate toothpaste. This might seem like overkill, but it’s this level of diligence that it will take to limit the spread.
Clothing, including towels and bedding should be washed in the hottest water they can tolerate, and adding bleach to the bleach tray is even better if you can.
If you’re sick and others are in the house, try not to prepare food for anyone else. This is impossible if you have children or elderly to take care of, so be diligent about handwashing.
Ok, so the 24 hour bug is over, time to move on with life. Great plan, but a couple loose ends to tie up first.
Make sure you do a once-over of the surfaces you think may have been impacted. The viruses can exist on surfaces for over a month without proper disinfecting. Additionally, those who were sick can shed virus particles through stool or saliva for a few days after getting over it. Keep these in mind and perhaps you can join my family in limiting the spread within your own house or workplace. Stomach bug disinfectants are on our 'Recommended Products' page which you can navigate to from the top of this one.
