Norovirus, a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness sometimes called the “winter vomiting disease,” is notable for its resistance to many cleaning products, including alcohol-based hand sanitizers. A nonenveloped virus that is difficult to kill, norovirus can survive on any surface for weeks and has been found to remain infective beyond 70 days on stainless steel and plastic surfaces. It only takes a minimal amount of noroviruses (fewer than 100) to make you sick.
Unfortunately, norovirus is presently raging across the United States. People infected with norovirus can shed billions of viruses for weeks after infection, even when they are feeling better. Norovirus immunity is short-lived, and a person can have multiple norovirus infections in one winter season. Read on for the information you need to help prevent norovirus infection and reinfection.
Wash your hands
Knowing how to wash your hands correctly is one of the best ways to protect yourself from infectious diseases. Here’s how you do it the right way:
- Wet your hands with clean, running water of any temperature.
- Use any soap and lather your hands, including palms, backs, space between your fingers, and under your fingernails. Do this for at least 20 seconds.
- Sing “Happy Birthday” twice for an easy way to time out the 20 seconds.
- Rinse the soap off using clean, running water.
- Dry your hands well with a clean paper towel or an air dryer.
- Remember that hand sanitizer does not kill norovirus. You must use soap and water. See why by watching the ISSA video: “The Science of Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers and Norovirus” at com/watch?v=e7V0nJP0bUw.
Choose the proper products
Cleaning and disinfecting are often considered to be the same action, but they are entirely different things. The distinction is critically important when you are dealing with norovirus. Cleaning is the act of removing dirt and unwanted contaminants from surfaces. Disinfecting is the act of applying products specifically labeled as disinfectants to irreversibly inactivate germs that may cause infections and disease, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Clean and disinfect frequently during norovirus outbreaks. Don gloves, then clean surfaces, using soap and water. Next, apply a disinfectant according to the instructions on the product label.
Not all disinfectants work on norovirus. Choose a product from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) online tool: List G: EPA’s Registered Antimicrobial Products Effective Against Norovirus. This list can help you find products that are effective against norovirus, as well as information on their required wet contact time and the surfaces that are safe for their use. As of January 2025, there are 386 products listed on the EPA site.
When norovirus has passed, another round of cleaning and disinfecting is required to prevent reinfections.
Consider soft surfaces
If your first instinct to clean soft surfaces—such as mattresses, couches, or carpet— is to get the vacuum, don’t do that. It is well documented that using a vacuum to clean up norovirus has only caused the virus to spread.
Instead, put on gloves and use a paper towel to clean up the affected area. Seal the paper towels in a bag and throw it in the trash. To disinfect mattresses, upholstered furniture, and carpet that have been exposed to norovirus, use a steam cleaner at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for five minutes, or 212 degrees for one minute.
If you feel incapable of cleaning soft surfaces yourself, then hire someone who specializes in cleaning them. Norovirus outbreaks have continued for weeks in hotels, nursing homes, and schools because vomit and diarrhea on these surfaces were not cleaned up properly.
Disinfect the right way
After choosing a disinfectant from the EPA’s List G that is formulated for norovirus, it is critical that you use the product correctly. The biggest mistakes people make regarding disinfecting products are not knowing how to use them and not following the directions. Read the product label; it will have all the information you need to use the product effectively and safely.
Two must-do’s are:
- Clean the surface first and then disinfect so the disinfectant can reach the germs to kill them.
- When disinfecting a surface, it needs to stay wet for the entire contact time noted on the product label, which could be minutes. If you wipe it off too early, the disinfectant product won’t have had time to work.
Handle laundry with care
Norovirus can survive for up to 12 days on clothing, towels, bed sheets, etc. Some studies have shown it can survive up to five months. Noroviruses are resistant to heat and can survive temperatures as high as 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
If someone has been sick with norovirus, you will need to change the way you do laundry.
- Wear gloves when handling the dirty laundry.
- Wash your hands with soap and water after removing the gloves.
- If you cannot wash dirty laundry immediately, put it in a plastic bag, not the hamper, and don’t leave it lying on other surfaces.
- Don’t shake the dirty laundry, as this can spread germs.
- Wash contaminated laundry separately from noncontaminated laundry.
- If your washing machine has a sanitizer setting, use it.
- Consider using a laundry sanitizer product in addition to regular laundry detergent.
- Clean and disinfect any surfaces that have had contact with a sick person’s laundry.
