Is Norovirus the Next Superbug?

It’s “stomach flu” season—and norovirus is back with a vengeance. Passengers aboard the Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas returned home early this week after more than 600 people came down with the highly contagious gastrointestinal virus. Cases of norovirus have increased in recent years, leading researchers to suspect the bug may be outsmarting our immune systems. Hand sanitizer and soap are no match for this resilient little pathogen, which can survive up to months in the air and on surfaces, and remains contagious in humans more than a week after they start suffering symptoms.