Can you catch norovirus from a house 8-9 days after someone was sick there?

[ApriltoNovember]

I know I sound paranoid but I have severe emetophobia, suffer from daily nausea and my decades long daily IBS issues means if I catch a stomach bug I can feel off for weeks afterwards so avoid it like the plaque and despise winter time as a result.

So, my parents are elderly, mum has advanced dementia and I go to see and check on them around 5 days a week.

The last weekend of January ( so 12 days ago) mum became unwell and dad and I sat for 26 hours in A&E with her. I wore a mask the whole time, dad didn't. In the early hours of Monday morning he came down with what I can only image was Norovirus. We initially thought it was food poisoning so on the Tuesday my sister visited him (mum has been in hospital all week and not at home, thankfully) and by Thursday she also came down with whatever this was and so did her partner so whatever it is was very contagious.

I have stayed away from both my dad and sister and have been the only one able to be with my mum in hospital all week. Dad was able to visit mum from last Friday and mum was discharged and back home on Monday evening just gone.

I have given it a few days break as the constant hospital visits took it out of me but my dad wants me to sit with mum as he has some appointments today. Normally this would not bother me at all as I do a lot for them but I am so on edge worrying I will come down with something from their house. I know I can wear a mask but I think this may unsettle mum in her own home.

Dad was last vomiting/diarrhoea early hours of Monday 2nd Feb and had another diarrhoea episode on Tuesday 3rd and says he has been ok since although a bit off for a few days after that. I bought him a bleach spray at the weekend and told him to blast all surfaces for when the carers returned this Tuesday. He isn't the most fastidious when it comes to cleaning so I hope he has done a good job.

I know I am paranoid but I have read of people coming down with it 2 weeks after staying in a house which had had the virus. What are the chances of catching something like Norovirus from a house over a week after someone has been unwell there?

Unfortunately you can catch it from surfaces for days to weeks. You'd only catch it from touching the surface and putting your hands to your face though, so if you want to visit one option would be to do the cleaning yourself. You could wear gloves and be careful not to touch your face. My family member spent a few hours cleaning my grandmother's house when she had something similar (turns out it was C. diff, not norovirus, but same principle).

Edit to add: if you're just sitting with mum for a few hours today and won't have time to clean then just be careful not to touch your face without washing hands first. I'd still recommend cleaning the taps/sink in the bathroom for obvious reasons.

I would say pretty slim, it’s most contagious around 2 days after first being sick, you’re going to wear a mask, gloves is a good idea. When my DC have had norovirus I never caught it, my MIL also had C dif in hospital, I visited and didn’t catch it, but was strict about hand washing during and afterwards.

My granddaughter stays with me every other weekend, and usually if she's sick as Mom needs to work. I have a compromised immune system so I wipe down surfaces, door knobs, switch plates, remotes and phones after her visits. We do a daily wipe down if she's been sick, and reminders of hand washing. Bottomline, don't touch your hands to mouth w/ out washing them. Buy sanitized gel and have them around their house and keep a small one in your pocket.

Thank you everyone.

I will wear a mask today and gloves just to make sure. Luckily dad has his own shower room and that's where he was ill so I will stay out of there for sure. Mum has a wet room so thankfully that hasn't been 'contaminated'.

Take gloves and dettol wipes. Do door handles , light switches, taps, any surface that people touch. Change hand towels.

A mask won't really make any difference - it won't be airborne at this stage as that comes from the act of vomiting or diarrhea & stays in the air a couple of hours. However it might stop you from touching your mouth/face so that you don't do that subconsciously.

Open windows!

My reasoning for wearing a mask, as I did in A&E is to stop me touching my mouth area.

Bit difficult with my mum as she can't move around and has many other health issues so needs to be kept warm at all times but I will open those in other rooms.

When my housemate had it we were advised to clean all surfaces esp door handles, whole bathroom, worktops etc really thoroughly - none of the rest of us got sick so I guess it worked. It’s the touching things that does it. I’d just bring a big bottle of cleaner and a cloth and give everything the once over when I arrived then wash hands and try to relax.

It can stay on surfaces for 2 weeks unfortunately so I would pop over and say you’ll help with cleaning. Wear gloves and disinfectant all touch points/ the loo etc.

I caught it off a cuddly toy 2 weeks after the child was infected (mother and baby class). I’ve read it can last a few weeks on surfaces.

As a Staff Nurse in a hospital, my daughter is exposed to norovirus a lot at the moment ward closed to visitors due to another outbreak. my daughter said that when she contracted it everytime she used the loo she bleached it thoroughly and somehow her family did not get it.
its quite sudden and nasty bleaching is the best attack. Dettol used to do a spray they claimed was good against germs so if you could get that to spray esp on door handles etc may help