Norovirus: Passengers Rarely Use Readily Available Hospital Grade Preventive Measures

The Royal Caribbean norovirus outbreak last week reminds us that cruise guests rarely use hospital grade weapons to reduce chances of infection. Many wipes and sprays used by medical professionals are readily available to the public and actually kill norovirus and some other threats. It may come as a surprise, but most sanitizer flowing from those pervasive shipboard dispensers does not kill the virus.

Of course, washing your hands often in hot water with soap is the preventive measure of choice. But if only one of your fellow guests does not wash their hands (which we all have witnessed in public shipboard restrooms) and then picks up, examines, and returns each of the cookies on the buffet (which we also all have witnessed), your odds of getting sick increase.

When we cruise, we carry hospital grade wipes and spray to use whenever we observe conditions that may spread a virus, whether it's a careless passenger or a less-than-clean surface on the ship. You can use the wipes to clean everything from your cabin doorknob, to a table in the buffet that has not been cleared. The spray is great after you touch the restaurant menu, but before you begin eating, and the pocket-able two ounce bottle doubles as an emergency hand cleaner when your shore excursion takes you to a suspicious restroom.

There are many varieties. We use these, available from Amazon by clicking below or others:

Clorox CLO 02174 Bleach-Free Hand Sanitizer, 2.0 FL OZ, (4-Pack), Contains Hand Moisturizers, Alcohol-Based

Saalfeld 30825 Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes, Kills Norovirus, HIV Rotavirus, 6.75" x 5.75" (Pack of 155)