OCD and worried... Can you get norovirus from flushing a toilet?

[VASTdejection]

Okay, hear me out. Since you all should understand.

I heard that you can catch the virus by breathing in the aerosol droplets of someone v*ing next to you. So, what about when you flush the toilet?

I flushed a public toilet and I felt some water from the flushing hit my hand. I washed my hand 1000 times, of course, but now I'm suddenly OCD worried and having panic attacks.... could I have breathed in the virus from droplets from the toilet flushing?

Or do toilets not flush "hard" enough to create little breathable spray droplets?

Thanks guys. Good luck to the "stomach" flu season!

[turbokinetic]

UNfortunately, those high-pressure commercial toilets can indeed make a spray.

I always flush them with my foot (I'm 6 foot tall so this is easier anyway). That way my hands never touch anything but my own body and my face is as far as possible from the toilet!

There is very very little chance that norovirus would be in a "clean" toilet with clear water in the bowl. If it was, and the flush sent up a spray, the concentration would be SO LOW that there would probably not be enough in any water droplet to make you sick.

I'm not paranoid, but I do try to take normal precautions. I'm not going to flush a toilet that I walk up to and find it full of poop. I'll move on to another stall and leave that one undisturbed.

Just my two cents worth! Bottom line - if the toilet is full of clean water there is virtually no chance you would send any contagious amount of norovirus into the air from a flush.

Sincerely,
David

[VASTdejection]

Phew... It is actually a VERY weak toilet flush but just a splash got on my hand... I'm now away from the area and obsessing that maybe it makes spray, but if it only splashes, does it make breathable spray? and it was all the way down by my hand when I was standing full up (not the hand that flushed, the one I just had by my side)

It seemed like clear water, but I know it only takes about 10 viral particles to become sick. so, really you don't think the concentrate wouldn't be enough for only that many?

It's been one day since the incident so I'm now counting down the last two days it usually takes to show up.

And even if you get the norovirus in your system, it is possible for the body to fight it off, right? Or for you not to vomit?

[turbokinetic]

One more thing that may work in your favor; in some areas they put chemicals in the water such as chlorine; to kill things that might come from the water source. This would be in the bowl water and might eventually kill the noro.

There's alot of water in that bowl, and some of the spray would be fresh water from the flush valve. I don't think there's going to be any appreciable viral particles getting from a clean-appearing toilet bowl to your mouth during a flush!

YES it is very possible for your immune system to fight off this virus and you never know it.

And, yes, it is possible to get it and not have to V. This is a well proven fact and several people on here have had "all the symptoms" but never V'd. We affectionately call it "The Emet Superpower" where seemingly guaranteed spewage is somehow suppressed!

I can only say I could have had it and not puked. Everyone at work was getting it; and they all would start out V'ing, then get the diarrhea. It hit me one morning, with the fast onset extreme nausea. That came and went on about a 30 minute time period and lasted all day. The only thing that makes me think it may not have been norovirus was because I never had any diarrhea. But the time from the onset of the symptoms to the time I started to get my energy back was exactly the same as everyone who got confirmed norovirus infections.

Sincerely,
David