Laying in the sun to kill Norovirus? The Googles they do nothing?

November 1, 2013 10:14 AM

I've got a lot of mixed information Googling about norovirus while working from home and entertaining a few previously ill but recovering and grumpy kids.

Sure I can go buy a bottle of bleach, but do I have to? Can I set ALL THE PILLOWS out on the driveway (clean sheet) for an hour on each side in the sun? Florida, driveway is east/west - plenty of sun exposure).

Alternatives to sunning ALL THE PILLOWS are washing in my front loader on sterilize cycle; I guess 'ruining' the color on a couple of inexpensive pillows is nothing compared to losing more work/school days to this blasted illness.

Notes: The pillows were not vomited upon (though a couple near so I am washing those). The other linens and beds (yay for mattress covers) have been scrubbed with bleachy wipe things that I keep around for hurricanes/severe stomach bug outbreaks.

posted by tilde to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

I'd just replace the pillows if they're that cheap.

Run the sheets through on the sterilize cycle. Wiped down All The Things and cross yer fingers. Norovirus is such a bitch.
posted by jquinby at 10:21 AM on November 1, 2013

Best answer: So, your options are:

1. Sun thing. Which would only penetrate the outer layers of the pillows, and has disputed effectiveness.
2. Sterilize cycle. Which would use very hot water and has a more assured effectiveness.
3. Hot cycle + bleach. Which would almost certainly be effective but requires a trip to the store and might discolor the coverings on the pillows. (Is that even a thing?)
4. Toss everything and buy new. Also requires a trip to the store, is maybe wasteful, is probably the most expensive option.

Do you wish to avoid bleach? Is that the issue? Then drain that hot water tank and do several sterilize cycles. I'd also make sure those bleach wipes get frequent use (like daily) in the bathroom, doorknobs, etc for a good week after symptoms are gone.
posted by fontophilic at 10:26 AM on November 1, 2013

Best answer: Norovirus is so contagious because it's markedly more difficult than most viruses to kill. It can remain infective for more than a week on surfaces indoors, and fewer than 10 viral particles are necessary to cause infection. Unfortunately I'm just about to run off right now, but I recently saw a paper showing that only bleach solution left for 10 minutes on a surface killed norovirus, and it had to be a strong bleach solution; even alcohol didn't help.

You need bleach.
posted by Cygnet at 10:31 AM on November 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I just don't like bleach. :( But into the washer they go, then. I've got a bottle of bleach in the hurricane kit for water purification so I don't need to 'run out' to get it.

Yes, these are basically the kind of pillows you see at Target or JCP that are a pretty cotton fabric sewn around some fluff to be used as decorative pillows. Instead the kids use them as their every day pillows. If they look that bad I'll get out some fabric and permacover them in a new skin, since we're stuck at home at least a couple more days along with most of our school's tween population ...
posted by tilde at 12:28 PM on November 1, 2013

I wouldn't really waste much time worrying about this. I mean, you can throw away or sterilize the pillows, but you can't throw away or sterilize the couch, right? You can't tear up the carpets… (I mean, you could, but that would be unnecessarily strict) I would just throw new pillowcases on the pillows (do one on each side of the pillow if you want to make sure the kid isn't touching the inside pillow), and then wait until the period where norovirus is infectious on fomites has passed. No need for a new permacover unless you really want to do that.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:19 PM on November 1, 2013

The CDC has some stuff to say about how long the virus is active, bleach concentrations, laundry, and cleaning up after an infection.

They say nothing about sunlight as an effective agent against the virus.
posted by the Real Dan at 10:39 PM on November 1, 2013

Response by poster: yeah, matches what I found, too. Needs more research for vinegar and hydrogen peroxide ...

What I found on the NSF site indicates my washer likely gets up hot enough to kill their three mainbaddies around 55c on Sanitize. I ended up washing everything twice (so - four and a half hours per load) doubled up on vinegar (my standard "fabric softener" amount plus a large glug in the "bleach" cup).

Do NSF certified clothes washers have to heat water to a certain temperature to sanitize clothing?
The NSF certified sanitary cycle designation does not specify a minimum temperature that a clothes washer must achieve. Rather, machines are performance tested using three different organisms (S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and P. aeruginosa) which are added to test swatches and then washed with a typical load of laundry. To achieve certification, the clothes washer must demonstrate a 3-log or 99.9 percent reduction of the test organisms during the wash cycle with no significant carryover of these organisms to subsequent loads.

Everyone seems rather chipper today; since the pillows with perma colors didn't get ruined from the four hours washing then I'll sew something else ...

For future readers - why bleach and not alcohol to kill norovirus:

Studies show that alcohol-based sanitizers, particularly those with 60 percent ethanol or more, can reduce microbial counts on contaminated hands and reduce the spread of some strains of the flu. But against norovirus, the severe gastrointestinal illness gripping many parts of the country, they may be useless.

Some viruses, like influenza, are coated in lipids, “envelopes” that alcohol can rupture. But non-enveloped viruses, like norovirus, are generally not affected.

Bleach is effective against norovirus, and can be used to decontaminate countertops and surfaces. And for people, the best strategy may be washing hands with plain old soap and water.

Thanks, all. Off to get more sleeeep and then wash more of ALL THE THINGS ...
posted by tilde at 9:51 AM on November 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Well, my surface scrubbing was a failure; I musta missed some spots as the rest of the household has now fallen ... urgh. Thanks all.
posted by tilde at 4:51 AM on November 6, 2013