Winter brings sniffly noises, cramping stomachs, and monstrous migraines when ailments like norovirus pop up. Known as cold and flu season, winter is the perfect breeding ground for transmitting nasty viruses because people are confined indoors, connecting in closer quarters than usual.
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What Is The Norovirus?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea.” The organization says that norovirus cases are on the rise. They have an intrastate network that helps monitor the spread of norovirus throughout the country by reporting instances of new cases in real time to a group data pool called NoroStat. A recent report from this network revealed that “During August 1, 2024 – January 15, 2025, there were 1,078 norovirus outbreaks reported by NoroSTAT-participating states.” This was a sharp upswing from their previous reporting because “during the same period last seasonal year, there were 557 norovirus outbreaks reported by these states.”
Norovirus does more than cause mild discomfort. A 2021 Viruses journal report stated, “Human Norovirus is currently the main viral cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGEs) in most countries worldwide.”
Viruses described the settings where the virus can thrive and wreak havoc on unsuspecting people. Norovirus “can efficiently survive in the environment and resists freezing temperatures, heating to 60 °C, and disinfection with chlorine or alcohol—facilitating contamination of food, water, and inanimate surfaces —eventually leading to outbreaks, especially in close settings such as daycare centers, schools hospitals, military camps, and cruise ships among others.”
What Are The Symptoms of Norovirus?
“The dominant symptoms of norovirus infection are vomiting and diarrhea and are generally of a relatively short duration,” according to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology Reviews. These symptoms come on quickly and generally pass just as quickly, but they can cause dangerous levels of dehydration.
What Should You Do If You Contract Norovirus?
Realize that you have an extremely contagious virus in your system that could threaten your loved ones as well as strangers. According to the Nature Journal, “Infected individuals shed billions of viral particles per gram of stool or vomit, which can contaminate food, water, and surfaces,” and “even after symptoms resolve, transmission can occur.
This means that even if you start to feel better after your bout with norovirus, you should be mindful of how you interact with other people.
The risk of norovirus transmission rises for those who have immune system issues. Viruses report that “in immunocompromised hosts, viral shedding in stools can persist for months following infection.”
How Can You Protect Your Home From Norovirus?
Cleanliness is the best way to fight the spread of norovirus in your home.
That cheap hand sanitizer you picked up at the gas station will not cut it against its power. The Journal of the American Medical Association asserts, “The most important way to prevent infection is to frequently wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds at a time.”
Preparing food for others when you have norovirus is ill-advised.
The norovirus can survive on surfaces, in food, and on clothes. Wash your clothing thoroughly with detergent and hot water and dry it well.
It is vital to disinfect the surfaces in your home with bleach or other strongly formulated solutions that have proven effective against norovirus. The CDC recommends cleaning surfaces with “a chlorine bleach solution with a concentration of 1,000 to 5,000 ppm” or “using an EPA-registered disinfecting product against norovirus.”
Unsure? Read the side of your household cleaners to see if norovirus is listed among the things they effectively fight.
What Is The Difference Between Norovirus, the Flu, and the Common Cold?
Norovirus might commonly be called a type of “stomach flu” by laypeople. However, in a January conversation with the American Medical Association, Dr. Robyn F. Chatman, MD, MPH, clarified that it is a unique virus. “We commonly call norovirus the stomach flu, although it’s not an influenza virus,” said Dr. Chatman.
Because norovirus is different, typical remedies do not work on it. “It is a stomach bug, but it is a virus, so antibiotics have absolutely no effect on it,” Dr. Chatman added.
The common cold, which is frequently confused with the norovirus, is more associated with runny noses, sneezing, and sore throats than the norovirus. It can cause body aches in some cases, but its impact is not centralized in the gastro area of the body like that of the norovirus.
