Picture the scene – you’re having a great time with friends at an office party or family get-together. A few days later, you start feeling sick – vomiting, diarrhoea, and intense stomach pains. The reason? Norovirus.
Norovirus, one of the most infectious viruses, has earned the title of “winter vomiting bug” due to outbreaks usually happening during the colder months. However, it can spread and infect at any time of the year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), norovirus is responsible for an estimated 21 million cases every year in the US alone.
The most challenging part about combating norovirus is its strength; it can last on surfaces for two weeks while managing to survive many disinfectants. This makes norovirus highly resilient and challenging to eliminate, meaning that infection from one contaminated surface or hand can facilitate a major outbreak.
Whether you’re in the healthcare industry or managing a home, knowing how to mitigate the risk of norovirus is relevant for everyone. This article discusses basic information relating to norovirus, its spread, potential dangers, and, more importantly, strategies to engage in and stop its spread. Uniwipe Clinical Disinfectant Wipes are effective against Norovirus and are particularly tailored for high-traffic areas like hospitals, schools, offices, and care homes.
Prevention is the best step in staying healthy, so let’s get started!
What is Norovirus?
Norovirus is known to be a highly contagious virus causing gastroenteritis – inflammation of the stomach and intestines. It is the leading cause of foodborne illness across the globe.
Normally, its symptoms appear in a window of 12 to 48 hours after exposure and lasts for one to three days. Following are some of the common symptoms:
- Sudden nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhoea, often watery
- Severe stomach cramps
- Low-grade fever and chills
- Fatigue and muscle aches
Unlike bacterial infections, norovirus cannot be treated with antibiotics. The only course of action is to rest while staying adequately hydrated.
How Contagious is Norovirus?
Norovirus is highly contagious. It can infect people at a rapid pace, infecting one out of every 5 individuals every year globally. The norovirus accounts for half the outbreaks of foodborne illnesses in the US. It spreads easily and can affect anyone and all age groups.
There are three ways norovirus can spread: contaminated food, water, and surfaces. And it’s so easy to get infected, as you only need 18 viral particles to get infected – significantly less than the flu, which requires thousands of viral particles to cause infection.
The virus can be transmitted via:
- Direct exposure to infected individuals through handshakes and hugs.
- Drinking infected water or eating contaminated food.
- Touching contaminated surfaces and then your mouth.
- Particles that originate from vomiting exist in the air (airborne particles)
Alarmingly, the virus can remain on surfaces for a fortnight and, in that time, remain resistant to disinfectants. To add to that, infected people continue to shed the virus for two weeks post recovery, meaning someone can feel better yet remain highly contagious while unknowingly spreading the virus.
Norovirus is infamous for causing outbreaks in shared resources like schools and hospitals, as well as nursing homes and cruise ships. Once an outbreak begins, it is hard to contain without immediate disinfection with professional grade disinfectants like Uniwipe Clinical wipes.
Preventing norovirus requires you to be properly educated, be strategic, and maintain hygiene. Just washing hands and hoping for the best won’t cut it.
Why It’s Important to Avoid Exposure
For the fit and healthy, Norovirus is generally not too hard to deal with. However, it can lead to serious economic and health crises in some cases. Pregnant women, infants, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals are at a much higher risk of dangerous dehydration that would require hospitalization.
Norovirus also causes serious operational disruptions on top of health complications:
- Employees falling sick contributes to high absenteeism at workplaces.
- Restaurants and food suppliers can experience a loss of revenue because of contamination concerns.
During an outbreak, schools and daycare centres become hotspots for infections, leading to widespread shutting down. This illustrates that norovirus is a public problem. Therefore, its prevention needs community outreach.
How to stop norovirus?
In order to reduce the risk of exposure to norovirus, you must clean your hands regularly, prepare and store food safely, and disinfect your surroundings. Since the virus can be spread by direct contact, food, and surfaces, people must make an effort in their daily routines if they want to reduce the chances of its transmission.
Personal Hygiene
One of the most effective and simplest ways to prevent infections is through frequent use of soap and water for washing hands. When it comes to norovirus, alcohol-based sanitisers are less effective, and it becomes very important to wash hands after using restrooms, before eating, and after dealing with vomits and diarrhoea. The chances of catching the virus lean heavily on proper hygiene practices.
Disinfect Surfaces
Effective sanitation involves utilising cleaning chemicals that are certified to be effective against norovirus. Not all cleaning agents have the ability to eliminate norovirus, as the virus can withstand many common household cleaners. Uniwipe Clinical Disinfectant Wipes are certified effective against Norovirus in just 60 seconds, making them an ideal solution to combat this virus.
Uniwipe Clinical Disinfectant Wipes – the simple way to combat norovirus
Using effective disinfectants is the best preventative measure for an outbreak of norovirus. As the virus can withstand many common household cleaners, properly accredited disinfection products like Uniwipe Clinical Disinfectant Wipes should be used.
Combat Norovirus in high traffic areas
Designed to remove norovirus along with other harmful microorganisms, Uniwipe Clinical Disinfectant Wipes are tailored for high traffic areas like hospitals, schools, offices, and care homes. Unlike traditional cleaning wipes, these wipes are more versatile and can be used in diverse settings.
Meet European EN Standards
They are also specially formulated to meet the highest European EN standards for disinfecting, which guarantees the eradication of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. A unique perk of Uniwipe disinfectant wipes is that they have a fast action formula that kills norovirus along with other germs in mere seconds, eliminating the chances for cross-contamination.
Convenience of Use
The convenience these wipes offer makes them ideal for highly contaminated surfaces. You do not have to worry about dilution and preparation because these disinfecting wipes come pre-saturated with the correct amount of disinfectant. These wipes are especially helpful for cleaning surfaces after an illness outbreak or when maintaining hygiene enclosed spaces.
The Bottom Line
Prevention is better than cure – practising adequate hygiene, ensuring food safety, and utilising proper disinfecting solutions will assist in eliminating spread.
For areas at risk, hospital-grade disinfectant wipes provide the best coverage. These wipes are effective against norovirus and offer unparalleled safety and hygiene.
You’ve got to stay attentive when dealing with the prevention of norovirus. It’s the only way to prevent outbreaks before they get out of hand.