QM 2 Christmas/New Year's cruise.

[Salacia]

Maybe when we in the US are hearing "flu" reports, they are lumping norovirus into those counts/reports.

 

Hi SeaFlint. No, I don't think so; the symptoms and pathogens are different:

 

...The flu is a respiratory virus, while noro takes place in the gastrointestinal system," explains Dr. Gerald Evans, a professor of medicine, biomedical and molecular sciences at Queen's University, and the medical director for infection prevention and control at Kingston General Hospital. "You don't get a cough and you don't get a sore throat with norovirus..."

 

quoted from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/14/norovirus-canada_n_2472308.html (The full article has more information)

 

-S.

[SeaFlint]

Hi SeaFlint. No, I don't think so; the symptoms and pathogens are different: ...The flu is a respiratory virus, while noro takes place in the gastrointestinal system," explains Dr. Gerald Evans, a professor of medicine, biomedical and molecular sciences at Queen's University, and the medical director for infection prevention and control at Kingston General Hospital. "You don't get a cough and you don't get a sore throat with norovirus..." quoted from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/14/norovirus-canada_n_2472308.html (The full article has more information)

-S.

 

Well, we MUST have it in the US. But, until we started sailing on QM2, I'd never heard of it. And, apart from cruise ships, I've not heard of it "on land". Odd. Maybe is is an UK export. :D

[Salacia]

Well, we MUST have it in the US...

 

Yup, we sure do due have it in the US. Actually, the Norwalk virus (Noro) got its name from an outrbreak that occurred in a 1968 - in a school in Norwalk, Ohio!

 

Edited to add: That was the first time the virus was identifed thanks to the electron microscope, but no doubt the virus had been in existence long before then under different names such as "the winter vommiting disease".

[SeaFlint]

Yup, we sure do due have it in the US. Actually, the Norwalk virus (Noro) got its name from an outrbreak that occurred in a 1968 - in a school in Norwalk, Ohio!

 

Edited to add: That was the first time the virus was identifed thanks to the electron microscope, but no doubt the virus had been in existence long before then under different names such as "the winter vommiting disease".

 

..."future cruise credit disease" or the "future on board credit" disease.

 

Actually, when my wife had it for 48 hours on the return trip in 2006, Cunard credited our account for the time she was ill. She has always been glad it hit her on the way home rather than in the Med, etc. and actually jokes that it forced her to stay in bed and/or sleep for 48 hours. Silver lining.

[Salacia]

..."future cruise credit disease" or the "future on board credit" disease.

 

Actually, when my wife had it for 48 hours on the return trip in 2006, Cunard credited our account for the time she was ill. She has always been glad it hit her on the way home rather than in the Med, etc. and actually jokes that it forced her to stay in bed and/or sleep for 48 hours. Silver lining.

 

:) Definitely not a fun thing to go through, but I'm happy your wife was able to find a postive aspect despite having been ill...and I'm also glad that Cunard made that nice gesture, and by doing so, retain good clients and leave them remembering a silver lining.:) Cheers, -S.

[Louise D]

Yup, we sure do due have it in the US. Actually, the Norwalk virus (Noro) got its name from an outrbreak that occurred in a 1968 - in a school in Norwalk, Ohio!

 

Edited to add: That was the first time the virus was identifed thanks to the electron microscope, but no doubt the virus had been in existence long before then under different names such as "the winter vommiting disease".

 

It was probably the mutant strain from Sydney. Trust the Aussies to unleash a super-contagious and powerful norovirus.

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-15/sydney-vomiting-bug-poses-risk-for-cruise-line-passengers.html

[Salacia]

It was probably the mutant strain from Sydney. Trust the Aussies to unleash a super-contagious and powerful norovirus.

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-15/sydney-vomiting-bug-poses-risk-for-cruise-line-passengers.html

 

Hi Louise. Yes, I've read various accounts of the new Noro strain from Auz. Sorry for yer troubles mate, it could (and does) happen anywhere. We've got a nasty influenza outbreak in the US. Ah well, all we can do is wash our hand fifty million times a day and have a glass of wine (or grape juice) at dinner to boost our immunity :) Cheers, -S.

[SeaFlint]

Hi Louise. Yes, I've read various accounts of the new Noro strain from Auz. Sorry for yer troubles mate, it could (and does) happen anywhere. We've got a nasty influenza outbreak in the US. Ah well, all we can do is wash our hand fifty million times a day and have a glass of wine (or grape juice) at dinner to boost our immunity :) Cheers, -S.

 

My wife received this week an e-mailed update sent - I guess - to all the docs in our area updating them on the influenza situation here where we live (VA - US).

 

It was a full page of officialdom (any less would seem a waste of taxes, I suspect) but the punch line was - ready? - "wash your hands repeatedly and make sure all your staff and patients wash their hands".

 

Good stuff.

[llam]

I received this article yesterday and thought I would share it. But still listed as "UNKNOWN" cause on the CDC website as af this morning.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57565694/cdc-says-new-norovirus-strain-caused-140-outbreaks-since-september/

[moniquet]

And not Pol Acker, either.

 

We heard from multiple crew that there were cases aboard from Southampton but that it had spread very quickly at the beginning of the Christmas/New Year's trip.

 

On QM2 trips we've taken before that had a few cases of norovirus, we were told that Southampton is a "hot spot" for norovirus. Not sure of the data behind that, but we've heard it multiple times. In fact, when my wife came down with it on the return leg of a trip in 2006, the doctor remarked on the number of times they had "picked up" norovirus in Southampton.

 

Well Southampton has been badly hit with the virus recently. Of course it is easy for the ships Doctor to blame the port and not the ship:rolleyes: It could be vice versa and Southampton catches it from people embarking off the ships!

 

Interesting that a lot of ships are listed as causes unknown...seems to imply it wasn't noro virus but some dodgy food eaten onboard.Whatever, the virus has been a godsend to the cruiselines...not much chance of them having to pay compensation for food-poisoning is there...cos it's the Noro innit:D

[SeaFlint]

I received this article yesterday and thought I would share it. But still listed as "UNKNOWN" cause on the CDC website as af this morning.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57565694/cdc-says-new-norovirus-strain-caused-140-outbreaks-since-september/

 

Good article. And, as someone posted in jest, this strain is from Australia.

 

However, as I was reading I took a gulp of tea from my recently-purchased-on-QM2 "Keep Calm and Sail On" mug, thinking it would have cooled down by now, only to burn my mouth. Darn thing REALLY keeps the hot drinks hot!

 

WHO do I complain to about the over-engineered quality of this mug! (I'm thinking some serious obc is headed my way over this...)

[Salacia]

Well Southampton has been badly hit with the virus recently. Of course it is easy for the ships Doctor to blame the port and not the ship:rolleyes: It could be vice versa and Southampton catches it from people embarking off the ships!

 

Interesting that a lot of ships are listed as causes unknown...seems to imply it wasn't noro virus but some dodgy food eaten onboard.Whatever, the virus has been a godsend to the cruiselines...not much chance of them having to pay compensation for food-poisoning is there...cos it's the Noro innit:D

 

Except that 20% of noro cases are foodborne, according to this article http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-strain-of-norovirus-is-circulating/2013/01/24/fd1e3a78-6650-11e2-85f5-a8a9228e55e7_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

 

BTW, I recently noticed this on the CDC website: "CDC has not verified all of the case numbers represented in the following updates."

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/surv/gilist.htm

[SeaFlint]

Well Southampton has been badly hit with the virus recently. Of course it is easy for the ships Doctor to blame the port and not the ship:rolleyes: It could be vice versa and Southampton catches it from people embarking off the ships!

 

Interesting that a lot of ships are listed as causes unknown...seems to imply it wasn't noro virus but some dodgy food eaten onboard.Whatever, the virus has been a godsend to the cruiselines...not much chance of them having to pay compensation for food-poisoning is there...cos it's the Noro innit:D

 

And reading through that article it sounds as if it might have been a previous outbreak centered/started in Europe.

 

On a totally different tangent... I only last night learned that the influenza outbreak in 1918 that killed 100mm+ persons world-wide actually started in Kansas, USA. I had always thought it started in europe and returned with the troops.

 

Odd things these outbreaks. WHAT causes them to pop out of the ground and go travelling?