Wipes that are effective for Noro protection ?

[scott4020]

I too have never brought any thing to disinfect my room, always use hand rails and eat at the buffet and I have never been sick on a cruise. I just can imagine spending my vacations doing the things I see described in threads like this. But I always thoroughly wash my hand before I eat and wash them several other times during the day with good old soap and water and keep my hands away from my mouth.

 

Having said all that, if doing these things gives you peace of mind then don't let anything I say stop you. Wipe away, enjoy your piece of mind and have a nice cruise.

[sashas_mom]

We always clean our hands before and AFTER we go through the buffet line. There are many people,who don't bother cleaning their hands before going in, and handle the serving spoons, etc. So we clean our hands as soon as we walk out of the buffet. We clean the salt shakers too. We do all,the precautions we can think of. I always wear long sleeves so when I walk down the stairs I can hold on to the rails through my sleeve. Elevator buttons we push with our knuckles. All we can do is try to stay healthy and hope for the best.

[sandyoftheseas]

I throw out the ice in the ice bucket and wash it and the tongs with soap and water. Who knows when it has washed last. I also do this in hotels too.

[chengkp75]

Dispatch Wipes - kills norovirus, HSV, and C-diff spores. No germ nasties can survive!

 

Many manufacturers make all kinds of claims. If these were effective against noro, they would be listed in the CDC database of effective noro agents. Even if the active ingredient is effective, most users won't follow the directions for "contact time" where the active ingredient (wet) needs to be in contact with the virus to kill it.

 

I guess I should have explained better - benzethonium chloride, a synthetic germicide is effective against many germs, viruses and bacteria.

 

Benzethonium chloride is only one ingredient in what the cruise lines use to sanitize. Virkon is a brand name that I am familiar with, and this contains: oxone (potassium peroxymonosulfate), sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, sulfamic acid. All of the "consumer" products that I've seen that contain Virkon (and these are for the veterinary market), are concentrates or powders that must be mixed, as the active ingredients break down over time, so they cannot be put in things like wipes. The other factor is concentration of active ingredient, and whether the consumer product has the same concentration as the commercial product. Again, contact time is very important to killing viruses like noro, which is why the fogging technique used onboard is best, as this mist will cling not only to hard surfaces but to upholstery as well.

 

And for the other poster, no, hand washing does not kill bacteria or viruses, soap is a lubricant, that breaks the surface tension between the outer layer of (dead) skin cells and the next layer of the dermis, so that the dead skin cells and the bacteria and viruses can be removed from your hands. This is another problem with hand sanitizers. If you just scrub your hands with this stuff, you are just moving the virus around. Unless you can wipe them on a towel, depositing the virus there, you aren't doing any good.

[HornedFrogCruiser]

We use Zylast, which the manufacturer claims kills the Noro Virus. Significantly, the effect of Zylast isn't only retrospective . . . the effect persists for six hours after application.

[chengkp75]

We use Zylast, which the manufacturer claims kills the Noro Virus. Significantly, the effect of Zylast isn't only retrospective . . . the effect persists for six hours after application.

 

Glad that you noted that the manufacturer claims to kill noro. As with most consumer disinfectants, the products are not tested against noro virus, mainly because noro is nearly impossible to culture outside a human host, but are in fact tested against feline calicivirus, which is a near cousin to noro, but there have been some questions on how closely calicivirus reacts like noro.

[calliopecruiser]

Noro is caused by a virus, not a germ. There is a difference.

 

DON

 

Uh.......no difference. A germ is a microorganism that can cause disease, and that could be a bacterium, a virus particle, or a fungal spore.

 

As has been said, accelerated hydrogen peroxide is one of the few products that can kill Norovirus, but those products are typically limited to healthcare facilities.

[dancinman66]

There apparently are some antiviral hand gels available like ones used in ships

Just got to keep looking

 

 

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[boogs]

I've traveled all over the world in my 64 years on this planet, and have never wiped down any surface unless it was visibly dirty. Never been sink in all those years on any of those trips, in any of those places. The best defense is to build up an immunity to such things, not wrap yourselves up in a bubble to avoid them. Heck, that's the main idea behind a flu vaccine - it gives you a mild does of the flu virus so your body can build up an immunity to it, preventing getting full on sick.

 

The more you protect yourselves, the more you will need to do so in the future since you are preventing your body from doing what is natural - build up immunities.

 

Also keep in mind that Noro is much more prevalent in many places other than on a cruise ship. Cruise ship passengers are only a tiny fraction of the total number of people who come down with it every year. It is lurking in all public places, not just on a cruise ship. If you fear it so much that you must wipe down every surface you come into contact with on a ship, you need to wipe down everything everywhere else you go - shopping, church, school, the theater, restaurants, etc. Doors, railings, escalator hand rails, elevator buttons, shopping carts, shopping baskets, mail boxes, chairs, menus, pens used to sign your check, etc. EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE!

 

From the CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/features/norovirus/

 

"Noroviruses are the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the United States. CDC estimates that each year on average 19 to 21 million cases of acute gastroenteritis are caused by noroviruses. That means about 1 in every 15 Americans will get norovirus illness each year. Norovirus is also estimated to cause 56,000 to 71,000 hospitalizations and 570 to 800 deaths each year in the United States."

Edited September 12, 2014 by boogs

[boogs]

One more comment that I forgot to include in the above post - an average of only 3,000 cruise ship passengers world wide get noro each year (source: http://www.cruisejunkie.com/outbreaks2013.html - this is a website that is critical of the cruise industry, so the count isn't low balled)

 

This is in stark comparison to the 19,000,000+ in the US alone each year.

 

You have a much higher chance of getting it at home than on a cruise.

Edited September 12, 2014 by boogs

[cbr663]

We sanitize our cabin as soon as we enter it with Spray 9. It's on the CDC list of products effective against noro virus (and a host of many more). If you saw the rag after we clean, you would clean the cabin also.

 

We look at it as an exercise in minimizing the risk of illness, not totally eliminating the risk. It's one of the reasons that we wash our hands a lot, avoid touching our face, refuse to consume food that is not served at the correct temperature and avoid the pools and hot tubs.

[dsrdsrdsr]

We also use a wipe when we walk in the hallways as my DH has balance problems. So far we have been fortunate and have never become I'll. we also use the Baggie trick for the remotes, always wipe the handles of everything, hangers, lamp switches and anything else we can think of. I have one I use on the table and condiments in the buffet if we go there. And , of course, wash, wash, wash and wash again!:)

 

Benzethonium chloride is poisonous when taken internally. Don't use it on condiments unless there's plenty of time for it to dry before anyone else uses them. You'd be better off taking little plastic sachets of salt etc.

 

(Don't take paper sachets of salt - you need to wash them before opening them, and paper sachets aren't waterproof.)

[Talisker92]

We were on a 32 day cruise, and while not paranoid, wanted to take some precautions. We found that Lysol #3 spray claims to be effective against the Noro virus.

When we got to our cabin, we immediately started spraying, starting with the outside door handle. Inside we sprayed every knob and handle, the phone , the remote control and the entire bathroom.

But as usual, on our trips, we came down with colds from exposure to people in planes and airports. Right now we have cold meds from Argentina, Chile, France, Germany and Russia as well as the US stuff!

At home, every time we come in from outside, we wash our hands and used the same idea on board.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Talisker92

[Donray]

No wonder we have super bugs that are becoming resistant to stuff.

 

All the people are creating the superbugs in there cabins using stuff that might cripple them by evolving them into surviving the stuff that everyone thinks will kill them.

 

I hope everyone knows that A fast swipe with alcohol does nothing and actually more harm than good.

 

If you are going to clean the cabin do it right. Make sure that you use a strong bleach product and leave it on the surface until dry then rewipe all surfaces again with soap and water. Also, make sure you take apart the bed and wash the sheets in a bleach and let dry. Chances are the sheets have both bacteria and viruses. I do hope you never walk on the carpet without the throw away bootees.

 

Way do all you Obsessive Compulsive cleaners want to make superbugs?