Question about Norovirus

[espmass]

Does it seem the Norovirus comes in "waves"? You don't hear about it for months and then it pops up on several ships within a month of each other and then it seems to disappear again for awhile. Is that true or does it just seem that way? It has popped up again and I'm cruising in a few weeks which is why I was wondering if that's true. I also have a somewhat stupid question. I have read alot about the hand sanitizers that are put out. Does that keep you from contracting it if you touch the germs on something or just from spreading it if you have the germs?

[derf5585]

Montgomery County, Snow Mountain, Mexico, Hawaii, Parmatta, Taunton, and Toronto viruses.

from

http://www.about-norwalk.com/

 

Restaurant or delicatessen

from

http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/us_outb/fbo2001/viral01.htm

[TERRY223]

Please think about this for a moment. Sanitizers do just what the word implies, they sanitize/ kill germs. If you come in contact with the germs that someone else has spread, the hand sanitizers will hopefully kill the germs before you put your fingers anywhere near your face.

[derf5585]

Please think about this for a moment. Sanitizers do just what the word implies, they sanitize/ kill germs. If you come in contact with the germs that someone else has spread, the hand sanitizers will hopefully kill the germs before you put your fingers anywhere near your face.

 

Manufacturers of sanitizers who make claims such as “approved by the Vessel Sanitation Program” are in danger of loosing credibility.

from

http://www.antechh.com/news/noronews.html

 

Alcohol hand sanitizers have little or no affect on this virus.

from

http://www.foodservice.com/editorials/ed_listing_detail.cfm?&article_id=709

[sunluva7]

Very informative article on Noro-virus. Pretty scary stuff. Required reading for EVERYONE, not just food service workers. I'll pray that the crew is fastidious about sanitation and that John Q. Public does not carry any germs on board when I cruise in August. :eek:

[springtxbill]

Keep in mind that the best place to get the Norovirus is on the 3 or 4 hour plane flight with all those people packed closely together breathing the same air that is recirculated through the plane.

[BJS]

Keep in mind that the best place to get the Norovirus is on the 3 or 4 hour plane flight with all those people packed closely together breathing the same air that is recirculated through the plane.

Not an airborne virus. (unless someone close to you vomits then it can possibly travel a short distance in the air)

[Toto2Kansas]

We cruise a lot during the winter months and have never contracted noro-virus. But I will admit that we wash our hands continuously and use the hand sanitizer before each meal, and even inbetween.

 

Noro-virus seems to appear in the winter months mainly, and if you think about it, that is when most land based illnesses occur. It only takes one sick passenger to infect hundreds of others throughout the cruise. Most people, even when feeling ill do not want to miss their sailing so they go and tell themselves that they will feel better in a few days. They planned too long for this trip and don't want to miss it. They don't realize that they risk infecting hundreds of others. This also can count for crew illnesses, not sick enough to not work, but contagious anyway.

 

The best defense is to keep your hands away from your mouth, eyes, etc. Wash your hands as often as possible and be very careful around buffet areas.

 

Cruising in the winter, it is the chance you take of coming down with a lot of different viruses. Cold and flu from the plane ride, noro-virus on the ship.

 

But actually, not much different then going shopping at a large mall or discount store. If you touch something someone has touched when they are ill, put your fingers in your mouth or eyes, you are possibly going to contract that virus. Take precautions, and don't let your immune system become compromised.

 

Stay healty everyone!

[springtxbill]

There is plenty of hand contact on an air flight.:)

[Cruisin'40]

Having just come off the Diamond, where there was an outbreak of the norovirus I can tell you I came fully armed against the bugs, I had sanitizer wipes, hand sanitizer, lysol and every kind of medication possible. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I soon realized that spending this much energy trying to avoid the virus was not the way I wanted to spend my vacation.

 

We faithfully used the hand sanitizer in the horizon court, and tried to wash our hands before eating at other times, but frankly when you are eating as frequently as we were, it was quite a battle. We concluded it is extremely difficult to avoid the handrails, elevator buttons, bar tops, casinos chips, ect. We just did the best we could to be reasonable in sanitary measures and hoped for the best. Having said this my 12 yr old daughter did come down with the stomach flu (Noro-virus) the day after we got home, fortunately she didn't get sick on the cruise, or airplane, and she got sick before she went back to school which would have caused another outbreak at her junior high (which wouldn't have made the news).

 

So my theory is go, have fun, be reasonable, and hope for the best!

[Charlene]

:cool: It sure is a shame that we have to protect ourselves from everyone who may be sick. Maybe the cruise line should make everyone boarding the ship take some kind of test to see if they are sick or not.

This sure would eliminate all of the problems!!

[Snorkelcat]

I bought the neatest little device at Target before I left. It is a small plastic holder for Purell hand sanitizer that you can loop thru your belt or belt loop, etc and have hanging and easily accessible.

What we did was was our hands before going to the food court, got our food and drink, THEN santized after handling all the utensils that others came in contact with BEFORE we touched out 'stuff'. After going back for a 2nd plate or dessert, we sanitized again. It is the spoons, tongs, etc that everyone 'shares' that we wanted to wash up after. Same for salt & pepper shakers.

I am not a "Monk", but I am in the medical profession. I just wanted to be safe and clean.

Of course, if people would just WASH their hands we would not have to deal with this near as much as we do now. (my appeal for disease control---we learned it as children)

[GE Mom]

We recently cruised on Golden Princess in the Southern Caribbean, and I was struck by how little control the ship has over what passengers do on shore excursions. We're eating and drinking heaven knows what, then coming back to the ship to spread whatever we might have picked up enroute or ashore. There's the implication that, if passengers get sick, it's because of poor sanitation on board, when it's perfectly possible that we picked up the virus at the airport, from the drinking water, from the environment or some other place. Norwalk virus isn't the only microorganism that can cause GI symptoms, and if you read the EPA website on the water in San Juan, for example, you might think twice about blaming the ship.

[babsee101]

One of the best defenses against illness is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. As we all know this includes healthy eating, proper exercise, get the proper amount of sleep, keep alcohol consumption to a minimum (darn it!), don't smoke, protect yourself from the sun, etc. etc.

This will hopefully assist your immune system in fighting off the nasty norovirus,

so that you can enjoy your cruise! In which most will eat too much, not exercise, not sleep enough, drink too much, and get far too much sun!!!:D

What are vacations for anyway ?

Happy cruising,

Barb