Swine Flu exposure on FOS?

[KARi5]

I understand and I am NOT trying to cause a Pandemic but this is an informative board good and bad & just letting other cruisers know what happened to my family and like I said it could have been contracted on an island (port) and just would like to know if anyone heard of anyone else being sick on this cruise or now(after) and I'm hoping no other family members get sick. My son is 8 years old, my sister in her late 30's who contracted the disease --bad luck I guess!

[gamecockinnc]

KARI5

 

Thank you for the additional info, since we were on the same sailing and everyone in our party is sick I am very grateful you posted this! I actually checked earlier to see if anyone else had posted anything and decided to check back when my mom called to tell me about my father becoming sick.

I am worried I won't lie, I had an ruptured aneurysm in my spleen (SAA) when I was 36 weeks pregnant 7 1/2 years ago. It is a very rare thing but my son and I beat the odds and became the 14th woman and baby to survive this type of ordeal. Because of loosing my spleen to the SAA I keep back up antibiotics with me at all times since I am immune compromised. BUT I must be seen for this, I can't hold anything down, I ache, have a fever, tummy "problems", fever and my oldest son is really sick. He has slept most of the day and he went to bed at 7:30 pm! We have been giving him Motrine, chewable Triaminic for cough and sore throat and of course albutertal and his advair.

 

If he gets worse during the night we will take him in. It will be a long night but my husband who didn't cruise with us is ok (for now big tough Marine) and can helpIt is so important for me to know others on our sailing have tested positive and make sure we aer all seen by the doctor........oh my doctor will be thrilled NOT (since he didn't want me to go on this cruise. .....we will all go to the dr. in the am and I will post what happens for others.

 

I will pray for your son and sister and hope they have a speedy recovery. I know you must be worried and hope no one else in your family contracts it. Once again thank you for taking the time to post.

[AlanAD62]

Hi Kari,

 

My son had abdominal cramps on the return home Sunday and I had a little stomach issue for part of the day on Saturday. (maybe attributed to overindulging?) The other five persons in our party have not experienced symptoms.

[KARi5]

KARI5

 

Thank you for the additional info, since we were on the same sailing and everyone in our party is sick I am very grateful you posted this! I actually checked earlier to see if anyone else had posted anything and decided to check back when my mom called to tell me about my father becoming sick.

I am worried I won't lie, I had an ruptured aneurysm in my spleen (SAA) when I was 36 weeks pregnant 7 1/2 years ago. It is a very rare thing but my son and I beat the odds and became the 14th woman and baby to survive this type of ordeal. Because of loosing my spleen to the SAA I keep back up antibiotics with me at all times since I am immune compromised. BUT I must be seen for this, I can't hold anything down, I ache, have a fever, tummy "problems", fever and my oldest son is really sick. He has slept most of the day and he went to bed at 7:30 pm! We have been giving him Motrine, chewable Triaminic for cough and sore throat and of course albutertal and his advair.

 

If he gets worse during the night we will take him in. It will be a long night but my husband who didn't cruise with us is ok (for now big tough Marine) and can helpIt is so important for me to know others on our sailing have tested positive and make sure we aer all seen by the doctor........oh my doctor will be thrilled NOT (since he didn't want me to go on this cruise. .....we will all go to the dr. in the am and I will post what happens for others.

 

I will pray for your son and sister and hope they have a speedy recovery. I know you must be worried and hope no one else in your family contracts it. Once again thank you for taking the time to post.

 

Most people who get this flu recover just fine so have peace in that --just take your family tomorrow to the dr. just to make sure all is ok and your son isn't getting worse(if he runs really high temps tonight or has real hard time breathing take him to emergency room at once) and I'm sure you will be fine and thank you to your husband the marine for his service to our country --god bless!

I'm signing off now but will check back tomorrow to see if all is ok!

[MAHA]

We were also on this sailing and most of us are fine. Our youngest son, who is 18, did experience intestinal problems after coming back from the Tulum excursion in Cozumel. He went with his 2 older brothers, who had no intestinal difficulties. We just assumed he must have had something bad to eat. He is fine today, but was experiencing problems from Friday night until Monday afternoon. He never ran a fever.

Mary Anne

[PaulMedik]

 

If anyone was on this cruise, don't wait if your having the above symptoms go to your dr. and ask to get swabbed just to be on the safe side especially if your symptoms aren't improving after a few days.

BE SAFE EVERYONE --..........!!

 

 

KARi5,

 

While advising everyone with symptoms to 'get swabbed,' is not the worst advice I have heard and I do not fault you for offering it, but the best advice is to treat your symptoms. We no longer 'swab' for swine flu on a routine basis. The CDC recommends testing only for areas without cases previously or to prove clusters. Granted a cluster may exist from that sailing, but proving it as such would be impossible.

 

In addition to treating symptoms, I would also advise people to stay home when symptoms are present, cover their mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, and wash their hands frequently even while sick. Getting tested and finding out you have swine flu will not help you get better any faster. All you will gain by getting tested is the chance to expose additional people at your health care facility.

 

My advice is also the EXACT same advice currently offered by the CDC.

[aqhacruiser]

To be clear, I do have sympathy for all who are sick! Especially those that are immuno compromised. I wish you all a speedy recovery and please don't hesitate to take your family to the doctor or hospital any time you feel it's "just not right." Trust your instincts.

 

But I also don't want to see everyone scream pandemic like they did when this flu first came out. It's out there, people can get it anywhere, but it's just one of many dangers we face everywhere we go.

 

Well it is a confirmed pandemic now and it's a much different situation today then when the H1N1 was first announced in April. It has continued to spread rapidly throughout the world and it is not like a typical seasonal flu. For anyone who wants to know the difference here is the

goverment website that clearly explains the differences between regular seasonal flu and a pandemic flu such as the H1N1

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/season_or_pandemic.html

 

The above website also has links to other goverment information on the pandemic and what you can do to prepare for it and measures you can take to limit risk.

 

With that said we can't live in a bubble and we do risk exposure to the H1N1, seasonal flu and bacterial infections on a daily basis. It's impossible for any cruiseline to prevent an outbreak onboard and RCCL has had a few cases on other ships so far that have been reported in the media and it's no different then reporting cases in other places as well and I expect this will be an ongoing topic that will be discussed on CC as it relates to cruising and travel in general as people are concerned about it. There are cases of Tamiflu resistent cases in the USA now and there have been deaths in healthy individuals both adult and children. We can't prevent the

virus but we can limit our risk to exposure and in the weeks to come I think we will see this topic discussed even more hopefully without the panic of the spring but with concern.

 

I also want to wish a speedy recovery to those that have this virus now and thanks to the OP for bringing this to our attention.

[aqhacruiser]

I understand and I am NOT trying to cause a Pandemic but this is an informative board good and bad & just letting other cruisers know what happened to my family and like I said it could have been contracted on an island (port) and just would like to know if anyone heard of anyone else being sick on this cruise or now(after) and I'm hoping no other family members get sick. My son is 8 years old, my sister in her late 30's who contracted the disease --bad luck I guess!

 

No, you are not trying to declare a pandemic, the World Health Organization already did that for us on June 11! I appreciate you sharing your story and I feel CC is an appropriate place to share your info as your family contracted the H1N1 while on a cruise as others have also. We are going to read about these cases on every cruiseline thread on CC eventually so this is not really about RCCL as much as it's about getting the virus on a cruise whether it was in port or on the ship or even during travel to and from the ship. I hope your family members feel better soon!

[aqhacruiser]

I ask this in all seriousness. They got off the ship on Sunday, the symptoms didn't show right away, and they tested positive yesterday...on Monday?

 

Doesn't it take 3 days for the Swine Flu to be confirmed? Again, I'm not flaming.....I'm asking seriously. Can someone help? :confused:

 

Paul, it can vary depending on the individual and the test used and this will explain it.

 

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/specimencollection.htm

[CruisinManiac]

KARI5

 

Thank you for the additional info, since we were on the same sailing and everyone in our party is sick I am very grateful you posted this! I actually checked earlier to see if anyone else had posted anything and decided to check back when my mom called to tell me about my father becoming sick.

I am worried I won't lie, I had an ruptured aneurysm in my spleen (SAA) when I was 36 weeks pregnant 7 1/2 years ago. It is a very rare thing but my son and I beat the odds and became the 14th woman and baby to survive this type of ordeal. Because of loosing my spleen to the SAA I keep back up antibiotics with me at all times since I am immune compromised. BUT I must be seen for this, I can't hold anything down, I ache, have a fever, tummy "problems", fever and my oldest son is really sick. He has slept most of the day and he went to bed at 7:30 pm! We have been giving him Motrine, chewable Triaminic for cough and sore throat and of course albutertal and his advair.

 

If he gets worse during the night we will take him in. It will be a long night but my husband who didn't cruise with us is ok (for now big tough Marine) and can helpIt is so important for me to know others on our sailing have tested positive and make sure we aer all seen by the doctor........oh my doctor will be thrilled NOT (since he didn't want me to go on this cruise. .....we will all go to the dr. in the am and I will post what happens for others.

 

I will pray for your son and sister and hope they have a speedy recovery. I know you must be worried and hope no one else in your family contracts it. Once again thank you for taking the time to post.

 

Gosh...I sure am sorry to read that you and your family are sick. I remembered reading your post about this concern before you left.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1032970&highlight=

 

Speedy recovery to you and to KARi5 family! ;)

[TRadle]

Just last week I read that there is a vaccine coming. It is recommended that people get the regular flu shot at the end of August and beginning of September. The Swine flu vaccine will be given to children and pregnant women first when it becomes available next month. I just read that there are batch issues and if those are overcome the vaccine will be available to everyone. I believe this vaccine requires two doses.

[MAZANDSTEVE]

Kari - I think you're being a little dramatic. As others have said, this flu is everywhere. I live in Wisconsin which currently leads the nation in Swine Flu cases. When or where someone gets it isn't really important once they've got it......dealing with "what is" is a lot more effective than dealing with "what may have been." As for pregnant women - darn near everything is dangerous for them. This flu is no more dangerous than the millions of other viruses out there every day.

 

Thats not entirely true, it may not be no more dangerous for you, but I get asthma and it could very easily make me very sick or worse. I get the flu jab for regular flu but as yet the swine flu jab is not yet out. I am taking more precautions at the moment and avoiding crowded places.

[CruisinManiac]

Just yesterday, I went out and bought a "antibacterial kit" for everyone in the family. My daughter is getting married at the end of September and I have fears that this flu will wreak havoc on us. I bought antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizing gel, lubricating eye drops and saline solution for the nose - keep the eyes and nose lubricated and the germs have a harder time getting in. :D Also allergy meds since the children and DH tend to have bad allergies in the fall.

 

I know that some of you will say I am crazy, but when you have thousands of dollars down in wedding cost, and two of your three children are teachers (and the other, plus my husband work where hand to hand contact is a must), we are doing everything we can to prevent illness. I plan to start a regiment of attack about 3 weeks before the wedding. It may not help, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

Should I buy wedding insurance? It maybe too late. :rolleyes:

[MAZANDSTEVE]

Just yesterday, I went out and bought a "antibacterial kit" for everyone in the family. My daughter is getting married at the end of September and I have fears that this flu will wreak havoc on us. I bought antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizing gel, lubricating eye drops and saline solution for the nose - keep the eyes and nose lubricated and the germs have a harder time getting in. :D Also allergy meds since the children and DH tend to have bad allergies in the fall.

 

I know that some of you will say I am crazy, but when you have thousands of dollars down in wedding cost, and two of your three children are teachers (and the other, plus my husband work where hand to hand contact is a must), we are doing everything we can to prevent illness. I plan to start a regiment of attack about 3 weeks before the wedding. It may not help, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

Should I buy wedding insurance? It maybe too late. :rolleyes:

 

 

We have done the same at work, we have sprays hand gels etc, it cant do any harm to prevent as much as possible. I am also taking extra vitamins etc.

[Tennessee3]

Hello. My DH, DS13, and myself were on this cruise. Both my husband and son are sick. About Wednesday my son started to say he was tired and his nose was getting stuffy. He didn't have a fever so I started allergy medicine. He pretty much stayed in the cabin from that point on.Son woke up Friday with temp 102, sore throat, stuffy nose. Took him to the medical facility where the first thing they did was swab for swine flu and my husband had to fill out papers stating what cabin we were in, what table we sat at, etc. This test came back negative, but the one for strep throat was positive. They put him on antibiotics. Sunday morning my husband woke up with a cough and by that evening was feeling pretty bad. It appears as if he just has a "cold". However, my son had been feeling better after a couple of days of antibiotics and was afebrile until yesterday morning when the fever returned and he started throwing up. Took him to pediatrician who said he likely picked up stomach bug in the ship's medical facility while being seen for the other stuff.:rolleyes:

 

I am a fanatic about washing hands and even sprayed down the cabin with Lysol as soon as we got there. My family is good about this since I am on immunosuppressants for RA.

 

The ship's staff was very good to us/ my son. We kept him in the cabin and he got room service and DVD's from the concierge. Our favorite waitress from Portofino, Mina, sent him three of his favorite dessert. Our room steward Desmond was always asking if we needed anything.

 

We in no way blame RCL. We could have easily picked this up at Universal Studios pre-cruise.

 

I hope everyone gets well soon!:)

[noobiecruiser]

Uh oh. Here we go ... just in time for all the kiddies to go back to school so it can really spread!

[Kat1613]

KARi5,

 

While advising everyone with symptoms to 'get swabbed,' is not the worst advice I have heard and I do not fault you for offering it, but the best advice is to treat your symptoms. We no longer 'swab' for swine flu on a routine basis. The CDC recommends testing only for areas without cases previously or to prove clusters. Granted a cluster may exist from that sailing, but proving it as such would be impossible.

 

In addition to treating symptoms, I would also advise people to stay home when symptoms are present, cover their mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, and wash their hands frequently even while sick. Getting tested and finding out you have swine flu will not help you get better any faster. All you will gain by getting tested is the chance to expose additional people at your health care facility.

 

My advice is also the EXACT same advice currently offered by the CDC.

 

I don't think she was advising EVERYONE with symptoms to get swabbed but the ones that came off that cruise -- I was also on that cruise and did hear of some illnesses on the cruise but all was kept so hushed. I don't know who you are when you say "we no longer swab for swine flu on a routine basis" but they sure do here in orlando where I live as my daughter had strept throat 2 weeks prior to this cruise and her Dr. swabbed her as soon as I brought her in for fever and sore throat and I know of several of her friends who were swabbed also because of similar symptoms plus the original poster said her sister and son were immediately swabbed just do to symptoms so your info isn't correct plus there is medicine to get the first 48 hours like the poster said "tamiflu" to reduce the symptoms signigicantly and maybe stop any complications. Your info about getting tested and finding out you have the flu won't get u better any faster is WRONG -- I don't know why people post things they're not sure about. Also getting tested is important to find out where outbreaks are to help others be more protective.

 

I hope that the passengers who contracted this during the cruise receover fully and I thank the poster for letting everyone know your experience --being informed is important and we're all here to keep eachother informed. Thank you for taking time to be concerned for others while you take care of your sick family members.

[CruisinManiac]

We have done the same at work, we have sprays hand gels etc, it cant do any harm to prevent as much as possible. I am also taking extra vitamins etc.

 

I take Vitamin D3, Fish Oil, Red Yeast Rice, V-E, Calcium and Magnesium, plus an aspirin...all recommended by my doctor. :)

 

Tennessee3 - How is your son today? I cannot believe that the doctor would assume that your son picked up another bug in the ship's medical facility. What about the airplane, or any other place you went on the way home. If your son is not better today, I'd have him retested for Swine, or have them check for strep related illnesses. Strep can go to the organs if not treated properly.

[SherriZ366]

Just yesterday, I went out and bought a "antibacterial kit" for everyone in the family. My daughter is getting married at the end of September and I have fears that this flu will wreak havoc on us. I bought antibacterial wipes, hand sanitizing gel, lubricating eye drops and saline solution for the nose - keep the eyes and nose lubricated and the germs have a harder time getting in. :D Also allergy meds since the children and DH tend to have bad allergies in the fall.

 

I know that some of you will say I am crazy, but when you have thousands of dollars down in wedding cost, and two of your three children are teachers (and the other, plus my husband work where hand to hand contact is a must), we are doing everything we can to prevent illness. I plan to start a regiment of attack about 3 weeks before the wedding. It may not help, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

Should I buy wedding insurance? It maybe too late. :rolleyes:

I have a lot of hand sanitizer gel and wipes. Will bring lots of eye drops and will pick up saline solution for the nose.

[sgatling7]

did you contact rccl about this. im on this ship sep 6:)

[runmomrun]

I don't think she was advising EVERYONE with symptoms to get swabbed but the ones that came off that cruise -- I was also on that cruise and did hear of some illnesses on the cruise but all was kept so hushed. I don't know who you are when you say "we no longer swab for swine flu on a routine basis" but they sure do here in orlando where I live as my daughter had strept throat 2 weeks prior to this cruise and her Dr. swabbed her as soon as I brought her in for fever and sore throat and I know of several of her friends who were swabbed also because of similar symptoms plus the original poster said her sister and son were immediately swabbed just do to symptoms so your info isn't correct plus there is medicine to get the first 48 hours like the poster said "tamiflu" to reduce the symptoms signigicantly and maybe stop any complications. Your info about getting tested and finding out you have the flu won't get u better any faster is WRONG -- I don't know why people post things they're not sure about. Also getting tested is important to find out where outbreaks are to help others be more protective.

 

I hope that the passengers who contracted this during the cruise receover fully and I thank the poster for letting everyone know your experience --being informed is important and we're all here to keep eachother informed. Thank you for taking time to be concerned for others while you take care of your sick family members.

 

While your doctor may have chosen to do differently, what PaulMedik said is not incorrect. The CDC, and WHO, are no longer encouraging testing for H1N1. Even when a case is noted, they are no longer keeping count of the cases.

[ckrobyn]

did you contact rccl about this. im on this ship sep 6:)

 

I am on the ship August 23rd - am I concerned about it? Maybe a little....but actually no more concerned than I would be if it were a noro -virus outbreak. What I do know is that ship wide sanitizing practices will be at an all time high, so we can look forward to a very clean ship :D

 

You can catch Swine, Noro Virus, or Seasonal Flu anywhere - I will use the same caution I use everywhere else = proper handwashing.

[aqhacruiser]

While your doctor may have chosen to do differently, what PaulMedik said is not incorrect. The CDC, and WHO, are no longer encouraging testing for H1N1. Even when a case is noted, they are no longer keeping count of the cases.

 

They are still testing cases where I live for H1N1 IF a person has symptoms. W.H.O is no longer keeping count as its spreading to rapidly to keep accurate data but local area hospitals and labs are still monitoring results to be able to tell if there is an increase in H1N1 cases so they can make plans to deal with a local outbreak. Each state and local goverments do have plans in place should they be needed to deal with a outbreak but they need to know if and when numbers begin to increase.

[aqhacruiser]

Just last week I read that there is a vaccine coming. It is recommended that people get the regular flu shot at the end of August and beginning of September. The Swine flu vaccine will be given to children and pregnant women first when it becomes available next month. I just read that there are batch issues and if those are overcome the vaccine will be available to everyone. I believe this vaccine requires two doses.

 

A vaccine is being tested now on humans however it takes time for antibodies to the H1N1 to build up as we do not have any immunity to this virus and it is not expected that this vaccine will protect people in the beginning if a large outbreak of cases should occur this fall and yes, they are expecting that 2 seperate doses will be given. As of right now we do not have a date when the vaccine will be made available to the general public but they have said children, those that are compromised with chronic illness and pregnant women would be the first to receive the vaccine. There are some questions about this vaccine so not everyone will opt to get it in the beginning but hopefully it does work and offers some protection in the long run.

[TPKeller]

Wow, where were all these folks during our roll call thread and the M&M? :rolleyes:

 

I was on this sailing, and so far I feel fine.

 

I only did one ship excursion, Malfini Beach on Labadee.

 

I walked around a couple hours in Ocho Rios. Took a public bus to the Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman, and took a taxi island tour on Cozumel.

 

Theron