A few weeks ago, I attended a birthday celebration for my older son. Almost the entire family was there. He prepared a Mexican fiesta meal, complete with margaritas from scratch. Almost exactly 30 hours later, I was vomiting my insides out. So was my wife, one of my daughters and her husband, and the birthday boy himself. Everyone who had a margarita got sick. When we put it all together later, we concluded one or more of the limes he squeezed had been contaminated by someone with norovirus.

Norovirus, often referred to as “the 24 hour flu,” is a form of gastroenteritis. In addition to nausea and vomiting, it can cause diarrhea, headache, muscle cramps, stomach pain, fever, and general achiness. Don’t let the nickname fool you, it often lasts more than 24 hours and, even if the symptoms lessen or disappear, you can still shed virus and infect others for months after the initial onset.
It has evolved to be a formidable virus that is easily transmitted from one person to another. It is also sometimes known as “cruise ship virus” for its propensity to race through the crowded confines of a cruise ship.
It has a hard protein shell, which permits it to live outside a host for weeks. It can sit there on countertops, clothing, bedding, doorknobs or food items lying in wait for someone to come along and touch it and then touch their mouths or eyes or food.
The incubation period is 12 to 48 hours.
It can withstand high temperatures.
It is resistant to most alcohol based cleaning products, such as hand sanitizers. When selecting cleaning products, look for those that are labeled as effective against norovirus.
It only takes a small amount of the virus to infect a person. Even a tiny amount of vomit from an infected person contains over a million times more viral particles than are needed to pass on the infection.
It can spread by touching a contaminated surface or the hands of someone with the virus on their hands, or by breathing in aerosolized vomit particles or by touching fecal material from an infected person. If an infected person does not wash their hands well after going to the bathroom, they can easily pass the virus on to you. As was the case in my family’s encounter, the contaminated surface may be a piece of fruit or another food item.
Even if you have had norovirus in the past, your immune response may be too weak to resist infection. The body does not do as a good job of remembering and attacking norovirus as it does some other viruses. In addition, like Coronavirus, norovirus mutates so the immune system may not recognize the new strain to which you are being exposed.
If you or a family member become sick, stay hydrated. Aggressively and frequently disinfect all surfaces in the area where someone has vomited or had diarrhea. Disinfect all surfaces touched by someone who is ill and keep doing that for weeks after their symptoms stop. Wash bedclothes or other clothing as soon as they become soiled.
So how do you protect yourself? To a certain extent, you are at the mercy of others. If others who are infectious do not practice good hygiene, to include vigorous and frequent hand washing, you can be infected by them, just as my family was.
You can reduce the chances of infection by observing good hygiene yourself. After every trip to the restroom, especially to a public restroom, wash your hands with soap for at least 20-30 seconds. Don’t touch the restroom door handle with your hands on the way out. Use a paper towel, if one is available or a kick pad. Even if you haven’t used a restroom, wash your hands often. Avoid touching your mouth, nose or eyes as much as possible.
Like many of its viral cousins, norovirus is a persistent and wily foe. To give yourself the best chance to avoid becoming ill, be vigilant and practice good hygiene.
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