LEARN TO COPE WITH NOROVIRUS FAST

I AM NOT A DOCTOR!

BUT I AM A RETIRED FOOD INSPECTOR.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS BLOG INCLUDES MY PERSONAL COPING TIPS!

I DID NOT DO THIS AS A REGULAR BLOG POST WITH PRETTY PICTURES BECAUSE IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT TO GET THIS AVAILABLE THAN IT WAS TO HAVE IT BE PRETTY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT sorensensremedies@yahoo.com and if I know the answer, I will respond as soon as possible.

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Norovirus Facts FAST!!!

(because trust me…you don’t have time to learn!)

1.)    In order to catch Norovirus, you MUST EAT VOMIT OR POOP (there is no other way to become infected.)

2.)    The CDC website says frequent washing will control it, but I absolutely disagree. About 5 billion norovirus particles can be contained in 1 gram (about ¼ teaspoon) of diarrhea, and only slightly less in vomit. YOU NEED TO CONSUME 10+ OF THOSE VIRUS PARTICLES TO BECOME ILL. YOU CAN’T WASH THOSE KINDS OF NUMBERS AWAY…..

3.)    Norovirus is NOT a living organism…it doesn’t live or die. It is a tiny piece of protein that your body duplicates over and over after you consume it. BUT THE IMPORTANT THING YOU MUST UNDERSTAND IS THAT IF SOMEONE HAS NOROVIRUS AND GOES SHOPPING OR MAKES FOOD FOR YOU WITH VOMIT OR DIARRHEA ON THEIR HANDS….IT SURVIVES FOR AT LEAST 24 HOURS ON A DOOR SURFACE YOU TOUCH TO ENTER A BUILDING, WALL, HANDRAIL, FAUCET KNOB, PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER KNOB/PACKAGE OF FOOD SOMEONE ELSE TOUCHED ON A SHELF IN THE STORE/ON A RAW VEGETABLE (ie: veggie tray/carrot sticks/dill pickle etc.). You can literally go shopping and come in contact with it hundreds of times during a single shopping trip!

4.)    The symptoms typically start 12-24 hours after you eat it

5.)    Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, (double bucket bug…sitting up pooping/while puking into a bucket.)

6.)    Symptoms typically last 2-3 days

7.)    You can get dehydrated VERY VERY VERY QUICKLY!!! ESPECIALLY OLD FOLKS WHO ARE TOO WEAK TO GET TO A BATHROOM OR A SINK FOR WATER!!! IF YOU HAVE NEIGHBORS WHO MIGHT BE SICK…CHECK UP ON THEM. If you are afraid of getting sick, call daily to make sure they are ok. If you don’t get a response, stop at their house and call EMS if you find them sick. But they can go from healthy to dead in a couple of short days!!! If you care…set up a system to check on them!!!

8.)    There are more than 2,000 different strains of Norovirus, and each is slightly different. In the same way, some colds start with a stuffy nose/some with a sore throat, norovirus and be a fairly mild illness or catastrophic. Roughly once a decade, a strain goes around that is incredibly contagious and that strain tends to make people very very ill. The bad news is that 2024 appears to be an ugly year. The good news is there are things you can do to either avoid it or be more comfortable.

THINGS THAT DO NOT DESTROY NOROVIRUS

            HAND SANTIZER

            LYSOL

            SANITIZER SOLUTIONS YOU BUY FOR YOUR KITCHEN (QUATERNARY/4 PART

            AMMONIUM SOLUTIONS LIKE LYSOL SANITIZER SPRAY)

            DIY SOLUTIONS LIKE PEROXIDE AND LEMON JUICE

            IF YOU HAVE SOMEONE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD THAT IS ALLERGIC TO BLEACH, THE  ONLY THING YOU CAN USE IS HEAT….COOK OR BOIL ANYTHING THEY WILL EAT OR EAT FROM, OR USE DISPOSABLE DISHES. ALSO, DO NOT USE THE JUICE RECIPE YOU WILL FIND LATER IN THIS REPORT.

1. I can’t emphasize this enough…IF YOU DO NOT EAT VIRUS PARTICLES, YOU ARE NOT LIKELY TO GET SICK!!! The problem most people have is they think their hands are clean. STOP PRETENDING THAT YOUR HANDS ARE AS CLEAN AS A FORK THAT JUST CAME OUT OF YOUR DISHWASHER! YOU WOULDN’T HAVE SKIN LEFT IF THAT WERE TRUE! JUST STOP EATING WITH YOUR HANDS! USE A FORK/SPOON/PIECE OF PARCHMENT PAPER TO WRAP YOUR SANDWICH/USE A NAPKIN OR FORK TO PICK UP FINGER FOOD, OR DON’T SERVE FINGER FOOD. BUT STOP BELIEVING THAT YOUR HANDS ARE AS CLEAN AS A FORK OR NAPKIN. THEY NEVER ARE!

2.)  Norovirus is stopped by only 2 things….bleach and heat

a.) Bleach water: If there are ill people in your home, your best friend is a chlorine bleach solution with a concentration of 1000 to 5000 ppm (1/2 cup to 1 cup of household bleach [5.25%] per gallon of water). Put that into a medium bowl by your hand sink in the bathrooms and kitchen. Dump and refill at least every 6 hours. Use it to dip hands when you have been dealing with vomit or diarrhea, or just want to know your hands are safe. Put a roll of paper towel next to your sink and use a sheet to turn off faucets. The same solution can be used to wipe down any surface you think the ill person has touched. Door knobs, TV remotes, cupboard knobs and drawer or door edges, faucet knobs, toilet knobs, countertop areas where food is made.

As long as the area is dry, you can prep food on it. If you want to rinse or wipe it down, use paper towels, but just letting it dry is enough.

To keep your hands safe…

Wash your hands as well as you can with warm soapy water.

Dunk your hands in the bowl of bleach/water by your sink

Sing the ABC song before removing your hands from the dip

Rinse the bleach back off and turn off the faucet with a towel

Use paper towel to dry hands, or a towel that is ONLY for you!!!!

DON’T USE YOUR BARE HAND WITH A DIRTY FAUCET KNOB! COMMON TOWELS ARE COMMON WAYS THE VIRUS IS TRANSMITTED.

b.) Heat: When it comes to Norovirus…Hot Food is your best friend!!!! From the time someone in your home starts to throw up….only serve HOT food. Norovirus particles are destroyed at 145F or hotter (about the temp where coffee is just a bit too hot to drink.) If you heat food to 145F or hotter, and you use clean dishes, you won’t get sick from food you make at home. BUT….if you have not dipped your hands…you walk by and grab a cookie because…hey….2 sick kids, and no time to eat…you could very well make yourself sick from residue on your hands transferring to the cookie.

The minute I knew we had Norovirus in the house, all finger foods/crackers etc. went into a cupboard and didn’t come out till everyone had become ill, or 2 weeks after the last sick person was feeling better. Soup, mac and cheese, noodle mixes, etc. is what you want your healthy people to eat. Sick people can eat anything, as eating more particles will not make them sicker.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!

It is unfortunate that the holidays are directly before the biggest food Holi-DAY of the year. We all get slammed by congregating inside a building with a bunch of strangers over Thanksgiving/Christmas/etc. holidays. Kids are off school, but there is ALWAYS a spike in norovirus during the holidays. BUT….the easiest place to catch Norovirus happens at the end of January/early February….

SUPERBOWL!!! It is almost always a day-long get-together with potluck food and tons of finger food…bags or bowls of chips and dips/veggie trays, desserts eaten from fingers…tables the right height for kids….It’s a frickin’ NIGHTMARE!!! If I can convince you to have a private party at home this year…please PLEASE….stay home! It is amazing to me how a group will get together for Super Bowl and every person that attended is sick the next day. 30 people there….30 people sick. It is almost a given.

DEHYDRATION:

It is soooooooo easy to get dehydrated to the point of death with Norovirus…especially if you are elderly, or immunocompromised. The first time my whole family caught a very ugly strain of norovirus, we had 2 small kids/1 bathroom, and a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We all came down with it within a couple of hours of each other, and the vomiting didn’t stop for more than 24 hours. How do you take care of 3/4/5/6-year-olds when you can’t stop puking? At one point, I passed out from sitting on the toilet/vomiting at the same time. Out cold on our bathroom floor, my husband woke me and told me to go to bed. I was so sick I told him I was already in bed and couldn’t he leave me alone when I was obviously dying.

For Children: Get Pedialyte. Their electrolytes will be off as soon as they start getting sick. I don’t care if you get a tablespoon into them and within 5 minutes they are throwing up. Push fluids! As they stop vomiting and having diarrhea you can switch to clear pop or ginger ale. But to start…Pedialyte.

For Teens and up…and ESPECIALLY FRAGILE ELDERLY!!!!!  You are likely to think I am nuts, but keep this in your toolkit in case you need it!!! America had a Surgeon General by the name of Dr. Charles Everett Koop. He was a pediatrician that Regan asked to become Surgeon General, and he held that office from 1982-1989. I was already working as a Food Inspector, and I was stunned when he got on TV during one of the years that Norovirus was really ugly…he told people that if you were in danger of becoming dangerously dehydrated, to take a clear juice frozen concentrate (like grape juice or apple juice), and mix it with a little less water than the can calls for. (like 2 ½ cans water instead of 3). To a cup of that mix, add 10 drops of bleach. YESSSSSS I SAID BLEACH! Now…before you think I am crazy, there is bleach is all city water that comes from a municipal system. IF YOU HAVE DRUNK FROM A MUNICIPAL SYSTEM, YOU HAVE DRUNK BLEACH AND WATER. IF BLEACH WERE SO DANGEROUS, IT WOULD NOT BE USED IN SWIMMING POOLS. THE AMOUNT OF BELACH IN THIS MIX IS LESS THAN YOU WILL FIND IN MOST MUNICIPAL POOLS!!!!

Bleach is the ONLY thing that unravels a Norovirus protein chain. 10 drops is ½ teaspoon of bleach to 16 tablespoons of juice. You sip at the juice mix!!! You don’t drink it by the gallon! It is not horrible tasting, but certainly not something you would ask for if you had a choice! Because of that, you don’t really want to keep drinking the bleach when you start feeling better. If you feel like you are going to be ill, take a sip. Almost immediately, your system will thank you for the relief. Then, the feeling of getting sicker and sicker will start to build. When you need another swallow of juice take one. It isn’t strong enough to hurt you, but can keep you from vomiting so much that you get dangerously dehydrated. It works especially well on the elderly who have already become somewhat dehydrated. Stick to clear juices so you don’t vomit all over your bedding because dark grape juice and bleach would stain your blankets.

If you have an older child (6 or older) that you are getting worried about/ is getting lethargic, you can try 1/4 teaspoon into a cup of Pedialyte (ginger ale or pop if they won't drink Pedialyte)