Norovirus vs. Coming home from cruise with bad cold

[suntan]

We have experienced the same coming off cruises - that is upper respiratory infections, to sinus infections, to bronchitis. On our last cruise in November, one of our party ended up in the hospital 2 weeks after coming off the cruise (she has a pre-existing respiratory problem), one was sick with an URI 3 weeks after the cruise, and I ended up with bronchitis the week of Christmas. I have always thought that it may be the air and/or air conditioning filters on the cruise and some of you here have confirmed my suspicions . I will take the advice of others and ask to have the air filters cleaned on our cruise in September. Stay healthy!

[scdreamer]

I guess that my DH and I are very fortunate to get antibiotics from our doctor before we leave for a cruise. I am the only one who has ever had to use my antibiotics...we did a small group excursion to Lake Bled in Slovenia last May. The weather was unusually cold, wet and it even snowed. To make matters worse, I was in the very back of a van that had very little heat, while my DH was in the warm front seat. That evening I started feeling awful; didn't know if it was from the ship or the excursion, but decided to take a Z-Pac because Montenegro was a private tour in two days. Well, it worked and I never got really sick, just tired and a slight headache. I rarely take antibiotics, so I made sure to add some extra probiotic too! Worked like a charm! Probiotics are a must for staying healthy and well while traveling...my opinion!:)

 

There has been an awful virus that causes a long lasting cough going around everywhere this year - regardless of whether one is traveling or not. When people are coughing (or sneezing), the droplets are airborne immediately, and no matter how careful you are about touching things, you just can't stop breathing.

 

As far as probiotocs go - I, too, had the cough that turned into a secondary infection and had to take antibiotics last month - something I rarely do. My pharmacist told me that it's not effective to take the probiotics while you're on the antibiotic, because the meds just immediately kill the probiotoc bacteria, along with the bad bacteria. She suggested that I wait a few days after finishing the antibiotics to start with the probiotics.