Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate communication messages and methods of local health officials to school risk managers (principals, janitorial staff, nurses) about prevention and infection management of norovirus.
Methods: Norovirus-related communications by local public health officials (n = 127) and their level of engagement with schools were evaluated using a 26-question online survey. Participants were selected via a convenience sample of North Carolina health departments and asked a combination of open-ended, Likert scale, and importance-ranking tasks. Questions focused on interactions with schools, knowledge of norovirus prevention, recommended norovirus control measures, education methods currently used in schools, and preferences for new education programs.
Results: When asked about norovirus control measures, many participants said they would recommend cleaning with bleach (93%) and excluding sick food handlers (97%, n = 102), but 22% (n = 102) would also recommend quaternary ammonium compounds for sanitizing, which are not effective against noroviruses. Nearly a quarter (23%, n = 102) reported recommending commercially available alcohol-based hand sanitizers to schools as an effective control measure. Only 31% of participants (n = 127) had been contacted by a school about norovirus, and few participants (15%, n = 118) said they had provided training to school staff about norovirus.
Significance: This study suggests that public health officials generally provide correct information to schools, though there is also an indication that some of this information is incorrect, and not evidence-based. In practice, these inaccuracies may lead to prolonged norovirus outbreaks in schools, but they also highlight areas where better knowledge transfer to the public health community is needed.