What Actually Kills Norovirus and How to Get Rid of It in Your Home

Erica Sloan
·8 min read

Carol Yepes/Getty Images

If someone you live with gets norovirus (the nasty stomach bug on the rise), your first thought might be something like, “Damn, I feel so bad for them,” followed quickly by some form of, “I need to make sure I don’t catch it.” There’s nothing like the constant sound of vomit to make you pray you aren’t the virus’s next victim. But before you grab the cleaning supplies, know this: Many common disinfectants (containing things like ammonia and alcohol), hand sanitizer, and even Clorox and Lysol wipes, often do not fully kill norovirus. You’re going to need the hard stuff for this one: a bleach solution…and a strong arm.

That’s because norovirus is a sturdy little bugger. Unlike plenty of other common viruses, like COVID-19 and flu, which are surrounded by a fat membrane (or “envelope”), norovirus is secured in a very strong protein shell called a capsid, Lauren Pischel, MD, MSc, an infectious disease specialist and instructor at Yale School of Medicine, tells SELF. Cleaning agents, hand sanitizer, and soap have a difficult time dissolving that hard protein layer, she explains. Thanks to this mighty shield and its ability to survive at a wide range of temperatures, norovirus can also live on surfaces for as long as a couple weeks.

Read on to learn how this notoriously contagious microbe can infiltrate a home—and what actually kills norovirus on surfaces and hands.

Understanding how norovirus spreads can help you figure out what and where to clean.

Because norovirus wreaks its havoc on the GI tract (triggering vomiting and diarrhea), it typically spreads through tiny poop and vomit particles. That might seem most relevant for someone who’s directly caring for, say, a young child and helping them go to the bathroom—which is certainly one path to catching it, Dr. Pischel says. But these little bits can also travel in many less apparent ways: For example, a sick person uses the bathroom and doesn’t wash their hands super well before shaking your hand, and then you touch your mouth; or their hands still contain some of the virus when they prepare food, which you then eat. Or, if an infected person touches a countertop, doorknob, or light switch with a hand that still has some virus on it, and then you follow suit, you could wind up ingesting it when you later eat or touch your mouth.

There’s also the ever-grosser possibility that the virus becomes aerosolized (meaning, dispersed into the air) because of how forcefully someone vomits or when they flush their diarrhea, Dr. Pischel says. If you’re in the vicinity, you could unfortunately inhale it and get infected that way—but even if not, it’s possible that you could pick it up by touching any surface within the splash zone (sorry) where particles may have settled.

The worst part: Getting exposed to even a minuscule number of viral particles is enough to make you sick, Dr. Pischel says. Research suggests as few as 18 can do it. (For reference, it’s thought to take around 100 particles to get sick from COVID.) To visualize how little exposure that entails, consider that one gram of poop (picture a quarter teaspoon) from a person with norovirus can include billions of viral particles. And it’s thought that as many as 10,000 can linger on surfaces that get contaminated. So in terms of cleaning, you’ll want to consider not only a bathroom that’s been subject to the GI mayhem of norovirus, but also any other object or surface that may have been touched or sprayed by an infected person.

How to effectively kill norovirus and keep it from ripping through your household

1. Use bleach to disinfect hard surfaces STAT.

As mentioned, many typical household cleaning sprays and wipes aren’t sufficient to get rid of norovirus. According to the CDC, what actually kills norovirus is a chlorine bleach solution—which you can make by combining five to 25 tablespoons of household bleach with a gallon of water. (It’s important to use it within 24 hours of mixing it, or else some of that powerful bleach will have evaporated off.) And you want to do this as soon as you can after someone gets sick.

Worth noting: You can also buy a cleaning product registered by the EPA as effective against norovirus, many of which are also chlorine bleach-based (including extra-strong health-care-grade Clorox wipes) and some of which include other active ingredients like quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) or hydrogen peroxide. However, according to the CDC, because of the way they’re tested in a lab, they may not be quite as effective at killing norovirus in real life as the bleach solution above.

Here’s how to clean any hard surface that may have gotten contaminated with norovirus-laden poop or vomit particles:

  • Put on disposable gloves and a mask (to keep from touching your face) as well as clothing you can easily wash right after.

  • Use paper towels to wipe up any visible vomit or poop and then throw them in a plastic trash bag. (Clearing up what you can see first lowers the burden you’re placing on the bleach, allowing it to work as effectively as possible.)

  • Apply your bleach solution using a spray bottle, sponge, paper towel, or other disposable item, and let it sit for five minutes (or follow instructions on the bottle if you’re using a cleaning product on the EPA list).

  • Wipe it off with a disposable item, and toss that in your trash bag.

  • Clean the area with soap and hot water using a fresh sponge or paper towel, and then throw that away.

  • Pop your disposable gloves in the trash bag, too, and take it out. Then, wash your hands and throw your clothes into the washing machine (more on this below).

And for soft surfaces like carpets and sofas? You probably won’t be able to use bleach given the potential for staining. Instead, carefully wipe up any visible bodily fluids while wearing disposable gloves, and then use a steam cleaner. (These generally heat up well beyond the ~140°F necessary to zap norovirus.)

2. Wash clothing on the hottest setting possible.

You’ll also want to give special treatment to any clothes that might be harboring norovirus particles—especially anything with visible vomit or poop stains, items someone wore when throwing up, or clothes you had on while cleaning afterward—and ASAP.

Before doing anything, put on a fresh pair of disposable gloves. Carefully carry these clothes to your washing machine with as little movement as possible to keep viral particles from shaking off. (If you’re bringing them to a laundromat, transport them in a plastic bag that you can throw out immediately after.) Then, run them at the highest temperature setting on the longest cycle (with both detergent and bleach, if the fabric allows), and dry them at high heat, Dr. Pischel says.

3. Disinfect any utensils or dishes the sick person uses.

It’s helpful to designate plates, cups, and utensils that the sick person will use while they’re experiencing symptoms and for two days afterward, and ensure everyone else in your home steers clear of those during that time. Dr. Pischel notes that a dishwasher on high heat may kill norovirus (particularly if it has a “sanitize” setting, which generally entails reaching a temperature of 150°F). But she says it’s still good practice to have the sick person use specific kitchen items that others don’t touch, and to run these in their own dishwasher cycle.

If you don’t have a dishwasher with a high-heat or sanitize setting, or you need to share utensils or dishware among family members, you can disinfect these items by both washing them thoroughly and soaking them in a bleach solution. In this case, one tablespoon per gallon of water will do. Here’s what to do: While wearing disposable gloves, scrape off any leftover food, then wash the items in hot soapy water and thoroughly rinse before soaking them in the bleach solution for at least one minute. Then, pull them out and let them air-dry.

4. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water.

You can’t rely on hand sanitizer to kill norovirus because, again, the main ingredient (a form of alcohol) isn’t capable of degrading the virus’s tough exterior. Though hand soap may also lack the power to effectively quash norovirus, there’s a separate benefit to using it: You scrub your hands with it and then rinse it off—so you’re actively dislodging virus particles and sending them down the drain, Dr. Pischel explains.

Indeed, research shows that rubbing your fingers together while washing your hands is an effective strategy for reducing the number of norovirus particles lingering there. Dr. Pischel recommends following typical good handwashing technique: Wet your hands with warm water, lather up with soap, and rub vigorously for about 20 seconds (taking care not to miss any spots), before rising thoroughly.

You certainly want to wash your hands at the normal times when you’re looking to minimize norovirus spread—like after using the bathroom or changing a diaper—but you also want to do so whenever you come into contact with the sick person or anything they’ve touched since becoming ill. And throughout the time while you’re living, eating, and sleeping in their vicinity, make a point to avoid touching your face and mouth, Dr. Pischel adds. That’ll just lower your chances of ingesting norovirus (and getting sick from it), should any of it still wind up on your hands despite all your best cleaning efforts.

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Originally Appeared on Self

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