Vomit virus IS airborne

[Feelingmehmehmeh]

I always thought that sick bugs were not airborne. I was under the impression it was spread by contact with surfaces the infected person had touched. We had a big event at the weekend and my parents had been poorly with a bug in the week. DF was all better but DM had the runs. She hadn’t been sick.
We decided to risk it and be very careful so as not to ruin the event (it was just us - no risk to outsiders).
We were ultra careful and only spent a few hours with them in our home at arms length. No kissing hugging etc and lots of washing hands. Now all but one of us are throwing up/diarrhoea. To me this looks like it was indeed an airborne virus. What does everyone think? Any specialists in viruses here? I can’t tell you how careful we were and I bleached the toilet and bathroom within an inch of its life after DM had been in there. Now poor DM feels awful about it and I feel awful that she feels awful!

Some of the vomit & virus end up in the air I guess like when you flush the loo and and if you don't put the seat down you end up with poo on your tooth brush.

Why does she feel awful? What did she expect to happen?

Viruses are easily spread. Even if you bleach the toilet. There's evidence to suggest noro could be airborne. But also through droplets, contaminated surfaces e.g. door handles. D&V is essentially very infectious hence why it spreads so easily

It really wasn't smart for you all to mingle. You can Google and see there is much research to suggest noro is likely airborne.

Got to be sick into a mask. Protect others. Can't give granny the runs as she can't run and will make a mess of the living room carpet.

Where are you keeping your toothbrush? 🤮

Not all sick bugs are caused by the same virus or bacteria so yes, obviously some of them are airborne

It’s a horrible illness and one I dread. I was once lying on the bathroom floor for three hours throwing up alternating with …….. I picked it up suddenly at work and had to rush home, luckily I lived fairly locally.

this is why hospitals discourage visitors if anyone has had the virus recently. Can be fatal for someone with underlying illnesses.

hope you feel better soon x

It’s basically the aerosol effect when you flush the toilet or vomit. Tiny little shit particles in the air that you ingest. 💩 🤢

I read up about noro when we caught it from baby DGC. He caught it from a cousin who brought it home from school. One child had been sent in with it and took out half the school and their families. Turns out you only need to be in contact with half a dozen droplets to get it. One poonami nappy was what did us in, even though we were super careful. I’m not convinced it’s airborne, more that it’s impossible to kill every cell of it and it’s ultra contagious.

I think airborne can also mean coughing, or even breathing out the virus. They might be over the virus themselves because their immune system has taken control of it but they can still be infected.

D&V is so infectious, it's a good to use the "48 hours clear" advice re mixing, but even then it isn't foolproof. We all contracted D&V after visiting SIL's house on Christmas Day. Her DH and DD had had the bug a couple of days before we arrived, but my son started with it 2 days after Christmas, followed by my nephew, husband, MiL and myself! Dominoes!

Oh and it has to be proper bleach. None of this kills 99.9% of bacteria toilet duck type stuff. Viruses are different to bacteria. It needs to be kills germs domestos type bleach to kill the virus.

I keep it safely in a cupboard for this reason

This. Always make sure the toilet lid is closed when you flush!

It is soooo contagious. Even a few microscopic virus particles can make you ill. She could have had some on her hands... And think about how many things/surfaces she touched...

My DC is very prone to sickness bugs (and therefore quite good at knowing when she is going to be sick!)... So we make sure she uses one toilet, I do bleach and clean it straight away thoroughly each time, but to be on the safe side, no-one else uses that one for a couple of days afterwards. May be extreme, but touch wood, no-one else has caught the last six bugs she's had!

(Obviously only good if you have more than one toilet!)

Any specialists in viruses here?

Yes (me)

I always thought that sick bugs were not airborne.

Strictly speaking not airborne, not like measles, but there's always Projectile vomit, resulting in aerosols, lovely (not !)

Don't rule out residue left on surfaces, your sofa even. Noro is very hardy, it can persist on surfaces for days and days. With low residual resistance, we all probably need just a little dose to become ill with it.

big event at the weekend and my parents had been poorly ...Now all but one of us are throwing up/diarrhoea.

Don't worry, the "but one" will have a turn...
timing matters, Noro has incubation period with median = about 33 hours. Today is Tuesday evening. If gap from you last saw your folks to when any symptoms in your household started was > 48 hours, that suggests not direct transmission but rather via surfaces.

The other possibility is that you got it from somewhere/someone else.
Other people in the world have tum bugs. Tots/Little kids shed noro for days & days after they seem fully recovered. We do get medium-term immunity to it afterwards, so that's nice. And it's usually finished in 36 hours.

A common feature of Noro is that it comes on fast, you go from feeling fine to feeling awful (spewing) in 20-60 minutes. Is that how you guys became ill?

Many other Germs are available, they could be your lurgy instead.

I think I’ve just had this. If my DD gets it, that’ll confirm it.
Covid has made people ridiculously moralistic and fearful about germs. You don’t need to punish yourself, apologise or feel like you are potentially killing people. These are normal bugs.

Did your mum prepare any food? I work with people who investigate outbreaks of illness. It doesn’t occur too often, but I have read reports about food outlets where one person felt a bit unwell, but still prepared food and infected lots of people with noro, not having actually thrown up.

Particles travel a surprising distance.

Thank you for your reply. Last we saw my parents was about 48 hours from my symptoms starting. I got shivery and nauseous for a couple of hours first. Then I did vomit several times. DH felt nauseous about 60 hours after seeing DP but only 12 hours after me. He gave in and went to bed this evening and has been back and forth to loo with Diarrhoea but no vomit. DS2 was off school feeling very nauseous and slept all day. DS1 is fine.
We had a cake - it was out in the room for a bit while parents were here although no one touched it or went near it apart from me cutting it. Could it be infected from being in the room? It might be a bit dry now but usually I’d still eat it a few days later - should I get rid of it?

It's normal to avoid catching or spreading things like norovirus. There is no benefit to catching it.
It is not about being moralistic, just wise.

No she didn’t go near any food. We really thought we were careful but I see now it’s not that simple.

You won't get it again, you've already got it.

Have you ever seen one of those videos where everything you touch shows up fingerprints in a bright colour to demonstrate how easily germs are spread.

Noro and other viruses can live on surfaces, so every door handle, worktop, table, chair, sofa, the wall when you put your hand out to steady yourself, your kids shoulder, the handle of your mug when you made a round of teas, the kettle, the tap when you washed your hands, the toilet seat......

That's why schools typically ask for 48 hrs with no D/V before sending kids back in, because it's just so easy to spread.

Light switches, toilet flush, something from the toilet go into the air and land on something....you be surprised how far something from the toilet goes...where your toothbrush kept?

It is like dominoes isn’t it. My parents got it from my DB and his kids at Xmas. Although they keep telling him they didn’t and it came from somewhere else for some reason.