Norovirus and Clorox Wipes

Wash hands thoroughly and often (especially before meals and after using the bathroom) and do not touch your eyes/face. Anything else is waste of time and money. Several have mentioned that using sanitizing wipes, Lysol etc. "couldn't hurt". True, but it also "couldn't hurt" to wear a hazmat suit or perform an anti-noro ritual dance but I probably won't be doing that either.:p

What can one do about elevator buttons or stair rails?

You could use a tissue but we have found using a knuckle vs finger tip is useful.

I've been known to use the hem of a jersey by putting my finger beneath it and pushing the elevator button. I'd do most anything rather than touch a most assuredly dirty elevator button. :D No matter how often they clean it, they cannot leave a steward there with a bottle of spray cleaner and a cloth 24/7. :D

B&Zsmom: Your's is the advise I trust :-). We use alcohol-based sanitizer in the hospital and are expected to foam in and foam out of every room. It's easy on the hands, as it must have lanolin in it. If it's good enough for the hospital, it's good enough for me. Of course, wash hands when visibly dirty or contaminated.

I find the brand of foam hand cleaner used by HAL ships to be hard on my hands.... and it is brutal on nail polish. :)

oh....that's not good. Will they let you use your own at times when they require use, like when you enter the buffet area?

Yes. Hint you are allergic to the other. :)

I'm wondering if I actually might be and that could be why it is hard on my hands.

As long as your body is exposed to norovirus frequently, which you will be if you are in contact with surfaces at work, the mall, etc, then your immune system will handle it. Immunity to norovirus does not last long after the last exposure, so to stay healthy you need frequent exposure. If you get symptoms, and do not otherwise have an immune problem, then you have not had recent exposure (likely due to over-sterilizing your environment).

To stay healthy, you need a healthy immune system.

To have a healthy immune system, you need exposure to germs.

As long as your body is exposed to norovirus frequently, which you will be if you are in contact with surfaces at work, the mall, etc, then your immune system will handle it. Immunity to norovirus does not last long after the last exposure, so to stay healthy you need frequent exposure. If you get symptoms, and do not otherwise have an immune problem, then you have not had recent exposure (likely due to over-sterilizing your environment).

 

 

 

To stay healthy, you need a healthy immune system.

 

To have a healthy immune system, you need exposure to germs.

Actually, Noro has multiple variants and you may or may not be immune to the version you are exposed to on vacation. Here's my source: http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/hcp/clinical-overview.html

I don't disagree that we need to be exposed to germs, but personally I don't want to find out that I can't handle whatever bug I encounter on vacation. I'll be sanitizing my hands with my 72% alcohol hand sanitizer and so will the rest of my family :)

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What can one do about elevator buttons or stair rails?

Elbows, forearms and a pencil. Don't stir your drink with the pencil after punching elevator buttons. ;)

Just looked up Noro in my Merck Manual for the heck of it. Then I noticed it's the 16th edition. LOL! Guess I better update (unless the MM has been replaced by an LCD screen...)

Oh yes, that was the cruise right after ours. I hope that you've been able to book a future cruise where you can actually travel...somewhere!!

Thanks!

I've just been doing research on this topic and a couple of things I've found:

Gel-based hand sanitizers won't work because the gel actually "protects" the virus.

The Clorox WIPES don't have bleach in them! Better to use the Lysol spray, then use wipes to clean surfaces, doorknobs, etc.

The researchers are going back and forth between the issue of whether alcohol-based sanitizers work (vs. chlorine-based) and now they say as long as it's over 70% ethanol.

To anyone who thinks washing hands is enough: if you can only kill Norovirus with over 70% ethanol, how will plain soap kill it? Washing hands is essential, but you should also use some sort of sanitizer, and avoid touching surfaces that others have touched. Most ships now have a tissue dispenser at the bathroom door to use when opening the door.

I might also bring my own (plastic) utensils! How's THAT for paranoid?

Good luck and Happy Cruising!!:)

Christina

At my job, we have to have hand washing inservice about once per year. Yes, it is as boring as it sounds, but it is a reminder to us to not only wash, but to use universal sanitary precautions in the classroom.

It's not that the soap and water are killing the virus, it's the method of using the soap and water. Soap makes water wetter and scrubbing the hands with soap makes the germs slide off the hands. Then, the friction of drying the hands with a towel further takes the germs off. We are taught to leave the water on, towel dry our hands and turn the faucet off with the used towel, then use the towel, or a fresh one, to open the door, then discard the towel.

Because of the work we do, we're constantly washing hands, using gloves, using disinfecting gel, etc… We still get sick on occasion. You just cannot avoid all germs in the world.

I'm not surprised many people take wipes and wipe down their cabin (or better use would be the tray table on their airplane flight). I just wonder how many people honestly think that will prevent illness…it will only if the prior tenant was a carrier of the virus and no one else has arrived onboard with a new round of the virus. I refuse to stay in the cabin the whole cruise and that will be the only place you know to be sanitized.

Even if they sanitize the entire ship, just one person bringing the virus onboard upon embarking can spread the virus all over again.

It also seems to me to be a seasonal illness, like cold season is more prevalent during winter months. Rarely do we read of Noro virus from spring to fall, when people are outside getting more fresh air.

Wash hands thoroughly and often (especially before meals and after using the bathroom) and do not touch your eyes/face. Anything else is waste of time and money. Several have mentioned that using sanitizing wipes, Lysol etc. "couldn't hurt". True, but it also "couldn't hurt" to wear a hazmat suit or perform an anti-noro ritual dance but I probably won't be doing that either.:p

*applause* Thank you; I needed a good chuckle! :)

I always take the travel sized Lysol spray for our cabin. It seems easier to just spray everything than to wipe it all down.

I take both. Use the wipes on the plane, and the Lysol spray in hotel room and cabin. Even though there is hand sanitizer all over most ships, I also bring my own (the good-smelling stuff from Bath & Body Works). And, as others have pointed out, none of these things take the place of frequent and thorough hand washing. :cool:

I've been reading about which wipes would be effective and the standard ones sold in the supermarket and drug stores do not work against Noro. The Clorox wipes that people say would be effective is the healthcare grade wipes that contain bleach. They are available on multiple internet sites.

I work in a large law office with lots of common surfaces, not to mention three kitchens on each floor and elevators/stairs. We have a housekeeping department and our head of facilities is going to purchase this level of product for her to use so that it's another layer against an outbreak.

With so many people handling the fridge, printers, phones, elevators, copiers, etc., anything that we can do to contain any sort of outbreak goes a long way towards helping everyone.

As a healthcare professional and a self-proclaimed germophobe, I can assure you that none of the wipes available at your local store will kill noro, nor will alcohol based hand sanitizers. The only substance known to dismantle the virus is a 1:10 bleach solution. Clorox cleanup spray qualifies as that, I believe. The reality is it is very difficult to avoid catching in closed environments. I do not personally travel during peak season for the worst bugs (noro, influenza, rsv) because that is just too much money to spend to have my vacation ruined.

As a healthcare professional, you need to do a bit more research.

There are many substances known and proven to kill Norwalk Virus spores. But most of those substances also kill humans, so they are not practical.

Chlorine Bleach and non-Chlorine Bleach (better known as activated hydrogen peroxide) are the 2 chemical substances recommended by the CDC.

Cruise lines are not allowed to use Chlorine Bleach in many parts of the world, and even where it is allowed, the damage done to people and property by concentrated chlorine bleach is not acceptable.

So we all use activated hydrogen peroxide, produced by 2 Canadian companies and sold under the trade names Virox and Virkon.

These chemicals are very expensive and are not exactly healthy for humans. They cause minimal damage to hard and soft surfaces. But they do kill viral spores with just a few minutes dwell time, which is very important.

On the negative side, Virox leaves a milky film after drying on hard surfaces, corrodes some types of metal, and smells like urine after it dries.

Virkon is less corrosive, leaves less of a film after drying, and smells like vomit after drying.

Both of these chemicals irritate skin and lungs.

Both chemicals are extremely expensive.

After watching some of the ways the stewards clean the rooms I will be picking up some wipes also

Every cruise I seem to catch a cold or upper respirator infection ...I know the wipes may not help for those but it may make ne feel better

 

Just watch the room stewards take the bucket of cleaning water from your room to the next cabin & the next cabin without a fresh bucket of water ....:eek: what germs are they spreading

 

 

IMO

Wipes could not hurt

The stewards are instructed by the cruise lines - and the CDC - to clean most surfaces in your cabins with highly concentrated non-chlorine bleach (activated hydrogen peroxide), using micro-fiber cleaning cloths.

Those buckets of "cleaning water" as you call them, are filled with the hydrogen peroxide solution, which is toxic to most bacteria and viruses. They are not spreading anything. There is no need to change this cleaning water between staterooms. The strength of the cleaning solution is checked every hour with test strips. But the stewards do change micro-fiber cloths as they move from cabin to cabin.

As long as your body is exposed to norovirus frequently, which you will be if you are in contact with surfaces at work, the mall, etc, then your immune system will handle it. Immunity to norovirus does not last long after the last exposure, so to stay healthy you need frequent exposure. If you get symptoms, and do not otherwise have an immune problem, then you have not had recent exposure (likely due to over-sterilizing your environment).

 

To stay healthy, you need a healthy immune system.

To have a healthy immune system, you need exposure to germs.

Working in the public schools for over 25 years has had one fringe benefit!!

As a healthcare professional, you need to do a bit more research.

There are many substances known and proven to kill Norwalk Virus spores. But most of those substances also kill humans, so they are not practical.

 

Chlorine Bleach and non-Chlorine Bleach (better known as activated hydrogen peroxide) are the 2 chemical substances recommended by the CDC.

 

Cruise lines are not allowed to use Chlorine Bleach in many parts of the world, and even where it is allowed, the damage done to people and property by concentrated chlorine bleach is not acceptable.

So we all use activated hydrogen peroxide, produced by 2 Canadian companies and sold under the trade names Virox and Virkon.

These chemicals are very expensive and are not exactly healthy for humans. They cause minimal damage to hard and soft surfaces. But they do kill viral spores with just a few minutes dwell time, which is very important.

 

On the negative side, Virox leaves a milky film after drying on hard surfaces, corrodes some types of metal, and smells like urine after it dries.

Virkon is less corrosive, leaves less of a film after drying, and smells like vomit after drying.

Both of these chemicals irritate skin and lungs.

Both chemicals are extremely expensive.

Thank you, Bruce! We can always count on you to shine a light in the darkness, around here. :cool:

Just one question, about your comment that Chlorine Bleach is prohibited as a cleaning agent, onboard all cruise ships. I've been lucky never to have been on a "bleach cruise". But, when I've heard stories of pax' clothes being ruined, by leaning against railings, etc -- I just assumed they were talking about a Chlorine Bleach solution being used. Does Virox (or Virkon) leave a similar residue, capable of ruining any clothing that comes in contact it?

Thank you, Bruce! We can always count on you to shine a light in the darkness, around here. :cool:

Just one question, about your comment that Chlorine Bleach is prohibited as a cleaning agent, onboard all cruise ships. I've been lucky never to have been on a "bleach cruise". But, when I've heard stories of pax' clothes being ruined, by leaning against railings, etc -- I just assumed they were talking about a Chlorine Bleach solution being used. Does Virox (or Virkon) leave a similar residue, capable of ruining any clothing that comes in contact it?

Good question. Virox and Virkon - and a few other commercial variations - are highly concentrated activated hydrogen peroxide. They are much stronger versions of the chemical that hair salons use to bleach hair. A much weaker and slightly different version is also sold in North America as "Oxy Clean". This is a non-chlorine bleach and it can damage clothing.