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Cruise ships are plagued by outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis, almost always caused by norovirus. This hardy virus can survive on stainless steel surfaces for weeks and is relatively resistant to alcohol-based hand rubs. Thus, good manual scrubbing of restrooms is extremely important in limiting norovirus transmission.
In a 3-year covert operation, a team of 46 medical professionals evaluated the cleanliness of public restrooms on 56 ships. At the start of each cruise, a team member applied a colorless fluorescent gel to standardized objects in several restrooms; the gel — visible under ultraviolet light — is removed easily by light scrubbing with water. Daily evaluations (and reapplications of gel, if it had been cleaned off) were conducte…