Getting a prescription for norovirus before cruise?

[Artemis908]

My mother told me that she thought I should ask my doctor for a prescription to treat the norovirus before we leave just in case we get it. Wondering if anyone has ever done this before or had any luck? Do doctors even prescribe medications "just in case" you get ill?

[Starry Eyes]

I take a few basic over the counter meds with me on every trip... PeptoBismol, antacids, ibuprofen, lomotil and such, so I can manage a basic upset stomach on my own. But if I have something bad enough to require a prescription med, I shall go to the med center on board.

[Ocean Boy]

What would you like for your doctor to prescribe? Noro is a virus that does not respond to antibiotics. The cure is to stay well hydrated and let the process run its course.

[Langley Cruisers]

Additionally, any kind of, well, anti-diarrheal medicine is not what you need if you contract Noro. The virus needs to leave your body and trying to keep it from doing so is not in your best interest. It would be better to try and prevent it in the first place.

 

In ten cruises and almost 50 years of life on earth, including going to busy shopping malls, grocery stores, churches, libraries, and various doctors' offices, etc., I have never contracted Noro virus. Chances are you won't either. :)

[Heidils]

Yep CDC says there is nothing preventavie to take. Washing hands and stayting hydrated are very important. The virus is esspecially harmful to young children and the elderly.

[Cotswold Eagle]

What would you like for your doctor to prescribe? Noro is a virus that does not respond to antibiotics. The cure is to stay well hydrated and let the process run its course.

 

Well said, sir. So, really, this is another 'taking water on board' thread :D

[newbiecruiser09]

In ten cruises and almost 50 years of life on earth, including going to busy shopping malls, grocery stores, churches, libraries, and various doctors' offices, etc., I have never contracted Noro virus. Chances are you won't either. :)

 

Oh no, now you've gone and jinxed yourself. :rolleyes: Wash hands, wash hands. wash hands!!! Stay healthy!:D

[Ocean Boy]

Well said, sir. So, really, this is another 'taking water on board' thread :D

 

Exactly!:D:D

[Ocean Boy]

Additionally, any kind of, well, anti-diarrheal medicine is not what you need if you contract Noro. The virus needs to leave your body and trying to keep it from doing so is not in your best interest. It would be better to try and prevent it in the first place.

 

In ten cruises and almost 50 years of life on earth, including going to busy shopping malls, grocery stores, churches, libraries, and various doctors' offices, etc., I have never contracted Noro virus. Chances are you won't either. :)

 

That, also, is correct.

[Langley Cruisers]

Oh no, now you've gone and jinxed yourself. :rolleyes:

 

Ruh roh! LOL. I'll take extra special care now. :)

.

[joandian]

My mother told me that she thought I should ask my doctor for a prescription to treat the norovirus before we leave just in case we get it. Wondering if anyone has ever done this before or had any luck? Do doctors even prescribe medications "just in case" you get ill?

 

If you do happen to get the norovirus, the ships dr will treat you free of charge.

[Langley Cruisers]

If you do happen to get the norovirus, the ships dr will treat you free of charge.

 

And then quarantine you in your cabin for at least 48 hours.

[grand isle joe]

....wash your hands and keep them away from your face......works every time.....Hope you have a healthy cruise.

[cb at sea]

Noro is a virus...it has to run it's course. You can prevent it, but you cannot TREAT it. Wash your hands frequently.

 

You've probably been exposed to it at the grocery store, your church, your kid's school (and that's the most prevalent place!!!---kids are FULL of germs!)...anywhere that folks congregate. It's a virus...nothing you can do to treat it. Viruses try not to kill their hosts, or they would be committing suicide. They'll make you sick, but then they're gone.

[cruisenfever]

And then quarantine you in your cabin for at least 48 hours.

And you'll get to watch all the pay per view movies.........FREE!!:D

[Cruzin-K]

And then quarantine you in your cabin for at least 48 hours.

 

As someone who has suffered from what I believe to be Noro (caught at a bridal shower, not on a cruise), believe me, anyone who gets this virus will not want to leave their cabin for 48 hours. I could barely move off my couch for two days.

[Rancher Dave]

What would you like for your doctor to prescribe? Noro is a virus that does not respond to antibiotics. The cure is to stay well hydrated and let the process run its course.

 

But so many think there is a pill for everything. Not knocking OP just all those who sow up to doc with an idea a script cures all. Thankfully my doc is all about not using drugs unless necessary and is glad to explain it to patients.

 

Op keep clean hands and watch what you eat and hopefully you will be just fine.

[rubrrick]

And you'll get to watch all the pay per view movies.........FREE!!:D

 

 

Patty......love the new avatar picture, and although OB keeps a low profile.......everything he says, (at least about medicine) he knows is the truth........as he is, in the know!:D

 

Thank you Doc!!;)

 

Rick

[Familygoboston]

As someone who has suffered from what I believe to be Noro (caught at a bridal shower, not on a cruise), believe me, anyone who gets this virus will not want to leave their cabin for 48 hours. I could barely move off my couch for two days.

 

Did you see the movie Bridesmaids?:eek::eek::p

 

Patty......love the new avatar picture, and although OB keeps a low profile.......everything he says, (at least about medicine) he knows is the truth........as he is, in the know!:D

 

Thank you Doc!!

 

Rick

 

...and he doesn't just play one on Cruise Critic;):D

[wieslaw]

Hi,

I am not sure if Norovirus can be prevented completely even if one does all the 'right things'.

Few years back we were on the Mariner, I do not know what number cruise it was for us .... but there many before that one.

We did all the recommended hand washing ( and I still recommend doing that) and used the sanitizers every where where they were located. The alcohol concentration in the sanitizers was so high that my wifes manicure just got disolved. We did not use any public restrooms. We were very careful what we did touch ...... and guess what ..... we got sick.

First wife got sick on cruise day 3 or 4 and I followed about day or two later.

Wife got very dehydrated and required IV fluids and few hours stay at the medical facility.

The doctor did not call the sickness a Norovirus - even that all the symptons were the same as a typical noro ( from what I read on these boards).

He called it 'gastritis' - presented us with a 960 dol bill and no quarantine.

 

It is always good to be very careful and not to take fullish chances ... but there are no guarantees that one will not get sick, regardless where you are.

 

Some people recommend to avoid the Windjammer ..... but we saw Capt. Johnny there a few times ..... and he was eating there just few feet from us at the counter ...... so if the place was so bad he would not go there.

Yes, I know the chances to get infected with something are there, at perhaps a higher level.

 

To all of you that never got sick ( noro) - count your lucky blessings and be thankful ..... but do not be surprized when your luck runs out. .... on the ship or any where else.

[ctcruiser1721]

As others have said, hand washing is the key. It will also help to prevent you (and others) from getting other illnesses such as the common cold. And remember it isn't just places that seem dirty that are dirty. I have seen studies that have found your computer keyboard at work just might be dirtier than the toilet seat. Gross, but true. Not in all cases of course but a lot just depends on luck. It's all a matter of what the last person transmitted to the next surface you touch, and what you touch after that...

 

Beyond that, there isn't much you can do except maybe take a multivitamin every day...

[Cruzin-K]

Did you see the movie Bridesmaids?

 

Yes. I hated that scene :( I thank my lucky stars that I was at home when the symptoms hit, and not in a bridal salon :p. One of my friends was out jogging :eek: She was vomiting all the way back to her car, right in front of people's houses. Two of my other friends ended up at Urgent Care to get IV fluids. I think almost all of the 15 of us who got sick took that Monday off work (party was Friday night. Symptoms hit Saturday night into Sunday morning).

 

I'm usually not an obsessive hand washer/sanitizer at home, but put me on a cruise ship and I turn into a complete germaphobe. I wipe down my airplane tray table, armrests and seat-back pocket with Clorox wipes and do the same all over the cabin on the ship when I get there. Yes, I know the wipes don't kill Noro but it makes me feel better and at least I'm more protected against colds and flu :D I carry hand sanitizer around with me as well, wash my hands pretty much whenever I can, and do my best to not touch hand rails, elevator buttons, etc. I use my elbow or cover my finger with the edge of my t-shirt. So far so good, but I've also never sailed on a ship that had a current outbreak.

[Driftwoodgal]

After reading several suggestions to the original posters question

 

We have sailed on ships that have had the noro virus active on board as well as the the H1N1/Swine Flu. We wash our hands and try not to touch hand railings and our faces etc. You can get sick fom the airplane flight getting to the ship only to to have it show up on the cruise. Wash, wash, wash...... and then wash again.

 

I sailed on a B2B where we were fine on the first leg. Lots of people coughing on the first leg. We got off the ship and then back on to have dinner and then spending the next 5 days in our cabin. My thoughts are that we caught something on the first cruise, but who knows. We stayed in our cabin even keeping our cabin steward out so we didn't pass what we had on. We had a suite on the cruise........one of our only ones we have ever had. Sure wish we could have enjoyed it more. People pay for a cruise and they come aboard the ship sick , just as people fly when sick. They have waited months for a vacation so they are taking it sick or not. What we had wasn't noro, but an upper respiratory virus that took me months to get over. Still wash hands, wash hands. then hope you are in the magical number that doesn't get sick.

 

If you are worried about the buffet lines in the Windjammer you could switch to breakfast and lunch in the dining room. Sure wish I knew the magic combination to ward germs off other than washing hands etc.

 

I am glad that RCCL now positions trash cans near the doors in the bathrooms where you can open the doors with a paper towel and walk out. This allows you to dine in the dining room without having to touch a handle.

[cruise pup]

I witnessed on an Enchantment cruise a fellow passenger who I think was working on contracting Norovirus. I was sitting in the Centrum by the window and he was on the outside promenade deck digging in an ashtray where he plucked out an extinguished cigarette, placed it in his mouth, and lit up. He was probably lucky if all he got was Norovirus! There is another thread on these boards entitled, "When did cruising get trashy?" I'd have to say this event marks the exact moment in my book!

[Ocean Boy]

Beyond that, there isn't much you can do except maybe take a multivitamin every day...

 

Highly over rated. And there is quite a bit being written up these days suggesting that this practice may not only be of no benefit to your health but may actually be harmful...... much to the dismay, I would imagine, to the multimillion dollar vitamin and suppliment industry.