Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes gastroenteritis, more commonly known as the stomach flu. Its symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, headache, and fever. Norovirus is spread through direct contact with a contaminated person, object, surface, or eating contaminated food. This virus is most common in schools, dormitories, cruise ships, and other areas where a large number of people are in a confined space. Norovirus spreads rapidly if not contained, and can pose a problem in hospitals, nursing homes, day cares, and other facilities where patients’ immune systems are already weak or vulnerable.

Because Norovirus is so contagious, and can survive on surfaces that an infected person touches, frequent disinfecting of high-touch surfaces is essential to preventing outbreaks. High-touch surfaces include door handles, desks, countertops, and other surfaces that more than one person is touching on a daily basis. These high-touch surfaces should be disinfected throughout the day. Hand hygiene is also a critical step in preventing Norovirus outbreaks. Frequent hand washing both protects yourself from catching the virus, and from potentially spreading it to high-touch surfaces and infecting others.

Multi-Clean offers three EPA-registered disinfectants with claims against Norovirus. For more information on these products, check out our Infection Control Webpage.