Virus

[bellebaby]

Just a reminder for everyone to take precautions while onboard....



Virus Sickens 116 Passengers on Cruise Ship

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (Jan. 8) - More than 100 passengers and some crew members became sick with a stomach virus aboard a ship that returned to port Saturday after a five-day Caribbean cruise, Royal Caribbean International officials said.

The outbreak of a Norwalk-type virus aboard the Enchantment of the Seas sickened 108 passengers and eight crew members, said company spokesman Michael Sheehan. It was traced to a man who had symptoms two days before boarding the ship Monday, he said.

A special cleaning of the 1,950-passenger ship was expected to delay a scheduled departure Saturday for a few hours, officials said.

Symptoms of Norwalk-like viruses include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea and last up to 48 hours. No special medical treatment is required.

Such viruses were blamed for a rash of cruise ship illnesses more than a year ago that prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate several lines. In September, 84 passengers aboard a cruise ship from Alaska fell ill with a Norwalk-like virus.

[jhannah]

We've had lots of people at work with the same ailment. It's just something you can get from being around other people. Good hygiene practices can go a long way in helping you avoid the virus.

[CanadianMAG]

Well I got that silly norwalk, along with a bunch of others from a 1 night re-positioning cruise!!! They ended up pulling the ship off for a few days to get "cleaned"

All I can its not fun!!! And I am glad I was on that boat for 1 day cause the next day when I was getting sick, I just wanted my own bed..... I could never imagine beeing that ill, on a boat with a small room, small bed, and a SMALL bathroom :D :eek:

I personally think, that norwalk is the future of cruising, but I am glad they had hand cleaners and things around the food areas (on princess cruises anyway) to help cut the illness down.

[elmorejj]

They have the automatic hand sanitizers on HAL ships also but it didn`t stop me from picking up a case of full blown Influenza on our holiday cruise. The first 7 days we were onboard was fine, then on the 2nd leg some pax evidently brought it on the ship with them. The last 7 days of our 10 day cruise, ( we were on BtoBs) I spent mostly in the cabin, sick as a dog....not too nice over the holidays. I did every thing I was supposed to do regarding sanitary precautions but I guess that didn`t stop the airborn germs.....jean :cool:

[arzz]

Sorry to hear that you were ill and missed so much of your last 10 days. We were aboard those 10 days and had a wonderful (and thankfully, healthy) time!

[jhannah]

When you consider how we get this virus, it's sickening in and of itself. Check this website (http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/norwalk.html) for full info.

[tejmar]

I think that the other ship mentioned was the Veendam. When we boarded in Vancouver for our 19 day Hawaii cruise we heard some people talking about people being sick on the ship from the previous Alaska cruise. Sure enough on our 3rd day out the captain made an announcement that passengers had contracted the virus. The crew immediately took drastic measures including no salt and pepper shakers, bread at tables. Passengers were not allowed to touch anything related to food or beverage. They were even getting water for you. This went on for about 2 weeks. The crew was really worn out and this virus effected everything. The hosts were not allowed to touch any passengers, the crew was constantly wiping down everything, and my wife and I learned to climb steps and open doors without touching anything. As good a job as the crew did we couldn't figure out why they let passenger hold the menus and didn't appear to wipe them down at all. After we touched the menus, we went back outside the diningroom to sanitize our hands again. I had a great time though (wife had a good time until the last 6 days when she got bronchitis), but the virus outbreak did take some of the fun out of things and really slowed things down in the Lido.

[bepsf]

We had a Norwalk outbreak aboard Amsterdam.


Rather sad that the ship's captain had to make an announcement over the PA to remind folks to wash their hands after using the washroom.

The service, however, only improved as we passengers were prohibited from doing anything for ourselves regarding food service, including serving ourselves coffee in the Lido or bread at dinner in the dining room.
(I rather like it that way...)

[Kami's pal]

Maybe if we were in the habit of wearing gloves, we'd protect ourselves from a lot of this? I'm not talking about latex, just plain white cotton gloves. Sort of like my grandmother wore to church. I haven't seen them for years, but if I did, I'd use them. Then, we could hold railings, open doors etc. and if we learned to remove the gloves by grasping the top of the wrist opening instead of the finger tips, we'd at least be safer. The very presence of the gloves would remind us to keep our hands away from our mouths.

[tejmar]

I also think that it’s pretty bad when the captain has to tell people to wash their hands, but some people don’t care. Even after days of having to deal with the consequences of the virus there were people that would serve themselves when the opportunity presented itself. They didn’t seem to care that they could be contaminating something and possibly making someone sick. When we were lounging around the pool one day we heard a woman telling someone that she had the virus for a couple of days but didn’t report it because she didn’t want to be confined to her room while on vacation. My wife and I were dumbfounded when we heard this and redoubled our efforts to not become contaminated. When you stop and think about what you touch during the course of the day it isn’t very hard to see how easy it is to pick up this virus. Basically you have to remember that if you touched something that someone else could have touched you had better not touch your face. That is why eating in the Lido was difficult. When we went through the line we tried to keep our hands touching the inside of the tray and only picking it up from the edges since the bottom of the tray was on the counter which everyone was touching. Same thing with the chairs which everyone touched. It was a constant battle to remember this. I think the gloves idea is a sound one. If they had them I'd have worn them.

The problem the crew had on our cruise was the the 1st day at sea (second full day on ship) we had 12' seas and many people includin both of us were seasick. So, some people said that they probably had the virus that day but didn't know it until the second day at sea which was relatively calm. That probably gave the virus an extra day to spread.

[kruzkeen]

When you consider how we get this virus, it's sickening in and of itself. Check this website (http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/norwalk.html) for full info.
I am bringing this thread to the top in the hopes that CC posters might have some useful clues and hints on how to avoid the virus. As Sail has just mentioned on her thread on the Veendam, in spite of all precautions she encountered the virus.

It seems that it is spread by people who do not only maintain good procedures but also do not quarantine them selves for the required time.

This what I have done on cruises in the last year and hope to be able to do again soon.

I carry in my pocket an old fashioned handkerchief about 10 inches square. Ladies could use a scarf. I always use this on door handle. Not just wash room doors but doors going out to the open deck etc.

I travel with a plastic bottle of antibacterial soap. I always wash my hands thoroughly with this every time I return to the cabin.

I carry a small squeeze bottle of hand sanitizer. Mine says it kills 99.99% of germs. I use it whenever I think it is a good idea to do so. I know the ships have hand sanitizer stands but I use my own from time to time.

I try not to touch menus in the dining room or eat anything with my fingers. Not always possible I know.

I am sure that others will have some good advice.

[discjoker]

Great suggestions! I too carry a pocket size bottle of hand sanitizer. I also bring a larger pump size to keep in the cabin.

[gizmo]

Maybe if we were in the habit of wearing gloves, we'd protect ourselves from a lot of this? I'm not talking about latex, just plain white cotton gloves. Sort of like my grandmother wore to church. I haven't seen them for years, but if I did, I'd use them. Then, we could hold railings, open doors etc. and if we learned to remove the gloves by grasping the top of the wrist opening instead of the finger tips, we'd at least be safer. The very presence of the gloves would remind us to keep our hands away from our mouths.
:) No way you could grab the top of those types of gloves to remove them. They were tight fitting and you had to pull them off by pulling each finger tip.