sick, how long will I be contagious?

Hubby and me came down with a bout of vomiting and diarhea, I know we got it from our son and family who came to visit and thought they were no longer contagious, well they were wrong and we have been sick enough to end up in the ER. Though I am not blaming them I don't want to make the same mistake and give it to someone else.

My Mom wants to come and help me clean up, but I am trying to figure out how long I will be contagious and how long these germs can live on surfaces and clothes, I need the help, but I do not want to give this to my 72 year old mother, she acts like she is still 16 the way she works, she even told me she felt wonderful, and had the same amount of energy as she did when she was 16.

I am trying to wash down some areas with a mop and bleach water and I am trying to wash up the dishes and clothes, but we were sick for five days and I still am having some symptoms, so I even if I were able to clean every surface I don't think I could totally kill all of these germs, with us being sick so long I am sure they the germs are everywhere around the house and on everything.

So for all of you people, who are in the know on germs, how long before I or my home will not make someone else sick? TIA

Iam no expert here.What type of sickness did you have? Norwalk viruses usually run their course in 3 days.Are you sure it wasn't food poisoning of some kind? Regardless, here is my 2 cents.DO NOT let anyone in the house if you are still feeling the slightest bit ill.It is good that you are using bleach.Lysol works wonders too.As much as it's nice to have mom around when you are sick, at her age this could put her in the hospital.I had a similar incident many times over as Norwalk is very prevalent where I live and all my kids as well as myself were sick.I washed everything in bleach, lysoled every surface imaginable, opened the windows to air out the house, and when we bathed i used a capful of a product called Dettol.Old remedy my mom tought me.Highly disinfectant pine oil( do not substitute with pine sol or anything else).Hope you feel better soon.

This link has info on the virus.

Same info from CDC

Also at CDC, one group of these viruses can still be caught two weeks after symptoms fade.