QE II norovirus?

[Salacia]

Originally Posted by Jim Avery

At the risk of being cast in the trash with all the other "back in the day" type posts, I am curious. Do the medical types here on this board have any history of Noro to impart? In all my travels including Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and QE2 from 1969 on, I never had or even heard of Norovirus. Is it a newly mutated germ or is it something in the food system? I am sure there were dirty spots on QE2 in the tight years but not these persistent outbreaks. Maybe I have just been lucky.

Jim Avery, wow, that's a really good question. Here's what I found (published by the Australian Goverment Dept of Health and Ageing):

Gastroenteritis, that was probably due to norovirus, was first described by Zahorsky in 1929 as ‘winter vomiting disease’. However the agent was not identified until 1972, when virus particles were first visualised by electron microscopy (EM) in faeces obtained from an outbreak. The outbreak had occurred in 1968 at a school in Norwalk, Ohio, US, with a high attack rate of illness among students and teachers. The illness was characterised by nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea with duration of illness of 12–24 hours [12].

In Australia, the first confirmed norovirus outbreak occurred in 1978 and was associated with oyster consumption [13]. The outbreak affected people across Australia, and norovirus was confirmed as the cause by visualisation of virus particles in patients’ faeces by EM and immuno-EM [13, 14]. This outbreak was one of the first recorded foodborne outbreaks of norovirus [13].

The discovery of the virus through EM was important because this was the first virus detected that was specifically associated with cases of acute gastroenteritis. For decades the role of the virus as a causative agent has been hampered by the insensitivity of microbiological diagnostics. It cannot be grown in cell culture and there is no small animal model. The only alternative is to test on human volunteers [12]. Since the 1970s, the viruses were known as ‘Norwalk-Like Viruses’ (NLV) and ‘Small Round Structured Viruses’ (SRSV). The early names of these viruses were determined by the location where each strain was detected (e.g. Hawaii, Norwalk) or by their physical appearance as visualised with EM [15, 16].

In 2002, norovirus became the official genus name, following further investigation of the viral taxonomy by sensitive molecular techniques. Improvement in diagnostic techniques has allowed for rapid recognition of the causative agent in outbreaks and has changed the understanding of the clinical significance and epidemiology of this virus [17].

The full report (which I think is very interesting) can be found at http://www.health.gov.au/internet/pu...ovirus.htm-l-2

Jim, thanks again for such an interesting question. Regards, S.

[glojo]

Can it be that prior to Norovirus we simply had a tummy bug but as technology improves we are more able to identify 'bugs' and give them names?

Not so long ago folks would die simply because of 'old age' but now there is always a causation for any death and instead of 'old age' there is a reason although the outcome is the same.

[ovccruiser]

Originally Posted by glojo

How comes the word 'sea' does not contain the letter 'c'

They do they are called oceans

[keithm]

Originally Posted by Jim Avery

At the risk of being cast in the trash with all the other "back in the day" type posts, I am curious. Do the medical types here on this board have any history of Noro to impart? In all my travels including Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and QE2 from 1969 on, I never had or even heard of Norovirus. Is it a newly mutated germ or is it something in the food system? I am sure there were dirty spots on QE2 in the tight years but not these persistent outbreaks. Maybe I have just been lucky.

Actually,Jim, that's what both Richard & I had last Jan. before our cruise. We had it the week prior. I was fine by cruise time. Richard, however was pretty dehydrated from the expeience. Most of this was likely due to his kidney function. When you have a transplant, you're still not totally operating on all cylanders as it were. The immunosuppressants definately make it easier to come down with things. Basically,it's a stomic bug. It's just really contagious. I won't go into how many times I told people to wash their hands before leaving the mensroom.(mostly foreign travelers)

[balf]

Originally Posted by keithm

. I won't go into how many times I told people to wash their hands before leaving the mensroom.(mostly foreign travelers)

Foreign travellers, wher are they from?

David.

[airships]

Originally Posted by keithm

(mostly foreign travelers)

On a ship registered in Bermuda that travels in international waters between the US and the UK, with occasional stops in Germany, France, and various Caribbean nations, who are the foreigners?

[Salacia]

Originally Posted by airships

On a ship registered in Bermuda that travels in international waters between the US and the UK, with occasional stops in Germany, France, and various Caribbean nations, who are the foreigners?

The Foreigners are a British-American rock band formed in 1976

[glojo]

Originally Posted by ovccruiser

They do they are called oceans

Funny... I thought Oshun was also spelt with an 's'

I guess I just don't get it after all.

Happy New Year
John

[turquoise 6]

Originally Posted by macsback

My daughter is currently on the QE II cruising NY to Caribbean to NY. I just received a message from her indicating that the Norovirus is active on board. She reports that "all outgoing calls, including that on my cell phone are bouncing back as ~restricted by agency~. we were not informed of the severity of the outbreak until today." She also learned that 500 people are sick.

Does anyone have more information? I can't find anything about it on the internet. Can they really stop all outgoing calls??? Is this all a bad joke? Thanks.

This must be a joke . The QE 11. QE2
Is not longer in service . Why would this thread go on & on & on
And it's about the QE 2!!!!!!
Bizarre

[Jason12]

Originally Posted by turquoise 6

This must be a joke . The QE 11. QE2
Is not longer in service . Why would this thread go on & on & on
And it's about the QE 2!!!!!!
Bizarre

Some sensible folk realised it was a typo and should have read QM2...!!!!!!! Bizarre indeed.. ;-)

[Salacia]

Originally Posted by turquoise 6

This must be a joke . The QE 11. QE2
Is not longer in service . Why would this thread go on & on & on
And it's about the QE 2!!!!!!
Bizarre

Hi turquoise. No, it's not a joke. The OP made a mistake in the name of the ship as it soon became clear that he was referring to QM2, not QE2. The thread continued with responses from CC members who are currently on board relaying their first-hand reports, and included comments and questions by other interested parties. Regards, S.

[Jim Avery]

Originally Posted by turquoise 6

This must be a joke . The QE 11. QE2
Is not longer in service . Why would this thread go on & on & on
And it's about the QE 2!!!!!!
Bizarre

"Bizarre" is a good work for what can happen hereabouts.

[Sea Tiger]

Originally Posted by glojo

Can it be that prior to Norovirus we simply had a tummy bug but as technology improves we are more able to identify 'bugs' and give them names?

Not so long ago folks would die simply because of 'old age' but now there is always a causation for any death and instead of 'old age' there is a reason although the outcome is the same.

In response to Jim Avery and glojo. As you both indicated, it would seem that because of more advanced technology that Norovirus has been able to be identified since the 70's and is not a newly mutated virus. One could compare it to a scientist finding a new star, when it was neither lost or new, just newly identified. This is my understanding, but I don't have any figures to compare past "tummy bugs" to present day ones.
I would welcome a microbiologist to add to this conversation.

[keithm]

Originally Posted by Salacia

The Foreigners are a British-American rock band formed in 1976

Thanks.

[keithm]

Originally Posted by balf

Foreign travellers, wher are they from?

David.

Yeah, not the best term.Sorry.We're all foreign to someone. We'll just say from Europe & I don't mean England.

[Salacia]

Originally Posted by keithm

Thanks.

You're weclome, and thanks for reminding me of a blast from the past.Only I keep humming this song since you mentioned The Foreigners
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCzaiu1MlTEolk

But back to the folks on board: the next 3+days are sea days, and I wish all on board and anyone reading this all the best in the new year.

Pax vobiscum,
Salacia

[Salacia]

Originally Posted by Sea Tiger

In response to Jim Avery and glojo. As you both indicated, it would seem that because of more advanced technology that Norovirus has been able to be identified since the 70's and is not a newly mutated virus. One could compare it to a scientist finding a new star, when it was neither lost or new, just newly identified. This is my understanding, but I don't have any figures to compare past "tummy bugs" to present day ones.
I would welcome a microbiologist to add to this conversation.

Sea Tiger, perhaps this might be of interest to you http://www.health.gov.au/internet/pu...ovirus.htm-l-2

Regards, -S.

[Sea Tiger]

Originally Posted by Salacia

Sea Tiger, perhaps this might be of interest to you http://www.health.gov.au/internet/pu...ovirus.htm-l-2

Regards, -S.

Thank You Salacia, I read the article a couple of days ago when you first provided the link and I was waiting for my family member to answer the question : is this a new virus or is it just that it was identified in the 70's because new microscopes were being used? I note that Zahorsky described gastroenteritis in 1929, but I am sure any lay person could have described it in their own words, in previous centuries, but he was the person who documented it. This is my understanding.
Thank you again for your always interesting posts.
Kendall.

[gentlemancruiser]

I am currently on board QM2 and You would not believe the number of times that passengers still do not use the hand sanitizer onboard. Even with all the warnings from the captain. The majority of those I've seen not washing are not foreign but ELDERLY.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jdvmd]

Two environmental health officers and an epidemiologist from the federal Vessel Sanitation Program are expected to board the Queen Mary 2 when it docks in Brooklyn on Jan. 3 to assess an outbreak of illness on the ship.

About 7.5% of the passengers have been affected by an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness. The ship is on a 12-night Caribbean Fiesta holiday cruise that began Dec. 22.

According to the VSP website, Cunard will conduct staged disembarkation of active cases to minimize the chance of transmission to healthy passengers.
Embarkation will be delayed for the next cruise to Southampton to provide extra time for disinfection and cleaning.

No cause has been assigned to the outbreak.