Has the threat of ebola caused you to reconsider your cruise plans

[redtogo]

I simply can't let this go uncorrected because your assumption or a faulty news source led you to this conclusion. The second nurse, Amber Vinson, contacted the CDC multiple times before she flew home to check that she was safe to fly. They thought her fever of 99.5 did not make her symptomatic. She did not lie to get home. The CDC themselves admit this.

 

I just feel that a nurse who followed procedure every step of the way and had the courage to treat an ebola patient deserves better than to be publicly maligned.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I agree that her being a healthcare worker, knowing the nature of this virus , and that she had a fever through "self monitoring", that she should have used caution and not flown to Texas.

 

Even the director of the CDC said in a TV interview that she should not have been on the airplane.

 

We all know that you can call a helpline for assistance for advice and receive multiple answers. Sometimes you just have to go with your intuition, which I believe is the reason that she was hesitant to fly, or she wouldn't have called to ask for advice.

 

Time will tell.

[lolane1]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I agree that her being a healthcare worker, knowing the nature of this virus , and that she had a fever through "self monitoring", that she should have used caution and not flown to Texas.

 

Even the director of the CDC said in a TV interview that she should not have been on the airplane.

 

We all know that you can call a helpline for assistance for advice and receive multiple answers. Sometimes you just have to go with your intuition, which I believe is the reason that she was hesitant to fly, or she wouldn't have called to ask for advice.

 

Time will tell.

 

I couldn't agree more. Very little chance of contracting the disease doesn't mean NO chance. They wouldn't be contacting all the people on the plane or disinfecting it if there was no chance.

 

Certainly I am not altering any of my plans. I am not worried about ebola at this point in time. But what disturbs me is the breaks in protocol, or no protocol, the mistakes make by the hospital, and even the rethinking of the CDC in letting the nurse fly. Hindsight is always crystal clear but come on guys can't we get our act together? This was not a rehersal nor should it be "on the job" training.

[sawtooth]

Just checked our cruise again and now there are more than 65 cabins available for a previously almost sold out cruise. Price has dropped just a bit. Final payment is still over 2 weeks away.

[Pia1913]

Just checked our cruise again and now there are more than 65 cabins available for a previously almost sold out cruise. Price has dropped just a bit. Final payment is still over 2 weeks away.

 

Cabins always become available right before final payment and I doubt there's any great anxiety over a caribbean cruise.

[greenie082756]

First off, I am not cancelling my cruise because of this. Am I concerned with my traveling and meeting thousands of strangers that could have almost anything from a common cold, head lice, etc.? No more than usual. I always have it in the back of my mind that I could catch a cold or something from someone else because of the situation. I will continue to do everything I can to protect myself such as washing my hands thoroughly and often. However I have waited for this vacation for so long I'm willing to go with the hundreds of thousands from airport to airport.

 

Secondly, my thoughts are what changes willthe travel industry be doing? Do you think they will be stricter including Princess? I hope so even if that affects me.

 

Finally, on the subject of the second nurse who decided that it was okay to travel. My thoughts are how could someone knowing that they were in contact with a patient that had contracted a deadly disease not have the common sense to wait and see? My daughter is a nurse, my husband is a lab technician and my son is currently going to school to be a doctor. With that being said, I can only come to the conclusion the nurse was prioritizing her schedule over the reality of what she was in contact with at her job. Somewhere in the back of her mind when she started to not feel well, she knew there was quite a possibility that she was compromised. Even if she didn't have Eboli, and just had a common cold, why spread it?

 

Three weeks and counting and I'm on vacation! :D

[redtogo]

Me, too, Greenie. I'm ready to go.

[CI66774]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I agree that her being a healthcare worker, knowing the nature of this virus , and that she had a fever through "self monitoring", that she should have used caution and not flown to Texas.

 

Even the director of the CDC said in a TV interview that she should not have been on the airplane.

 

We all know that you can call a helpline for assistance for advice and receive multiple answers. Sometimes you just have to go with your intuition, which I believe is the reason that she was hesitant to fly, or she wouldn't have called to ask for advice.

 

Time will tell.

 

I don't agree. She did the call the CDC. 99.5 is not even considered a fever. We don't know that she didn't talk to her "contact." I place the blame squarely on the incompetent people at the CDC. This isn't like cruise line personnel, these people are dealing with the health and welfare of people. I don't blame the nurse at all. She did was she was supposed to do and the idiot CDC screwed up. Now, that doesn't help anyone on that airplane. I hope they're all ok.

[AKman2495]

Getting back to the topic at hand, I do believe this Ebola scare would actually get me to go on a cruise. All this hyped news reporting is driving me crazy! Get me on a ship so I don't have to hear it anymore!!!!! (at least for a while..)

[pompeii]

I don't agree. She did the call the CDC. 99.5 is not even considered a fever. We don't know that she didn't talk to her "contact." I place the blame squarely on the incompetent people at the CDC. This isn't like cruise line personnel, these people are dealing with the health and welfare of people. I don't blame the nurse at all. She did was she was supposed to do and the idiot CDC screwed up. Now, that doesn't help anyone on that airplane. I hope they're all ok.

 

Well, here's a question: if you knew you had contact with an active case of Ebola within the last 21 days, protective gear or no, and you were running any kind of fever, would you get on a commercial airplane? I hope the answer is no.

 

The health care workers are now under travel restrictions which obviously they should have been from the start. But I still think common sense and concern for the health of the general public should have kept her from traveling during the monitoring period.

[CI66774]

Well, here's a question: if you knew you had contact with an active case of Ebola within the last 21 days, protective gear or no, and you were running any kind of fever, would you get on a commercial airplane? I hope the answer is no.

 

The health care workers are now under travel restrictions which obviously they should have been from the start. But I still think common sense and concern for the health of the general public should have kept her from traveling during the monitoring period.

 

Personally? I wouldn't have traveled at all. But I'm not a 29 year-old girl who's preparing for a wedding. She, allegedly, didn't have any symptoms until the day of travel (back to Dallas) and she called the CDC and they said - it's ok. If I were 29 and was told it was ok from someone with much more knowledge, I might have. I didn't say it was a good situation - it isn't. But I don't think casting dispersions upon this young woman is the right thing to do right now. She's fighting for her life and only has a 50/50 shot at surviving. We're all learning about this virus. She didn't have any superior knowledge about it - it seems. I blame the CDC for this - not her.

[Pam in CA]

Getting back to the topic at hand, I do believe this Ebola scare would actually get me to go on a cruise. All this hyped news reporting is driving me crazy! Get me on a ship so I don't have to hear it anymore!!!!! (at least for a while..)

LIKE. :)

 

The hysteria reminds me of when AIDS was considered a death sentence, patients were shunned, and people kept their kids out of school, canceled travel plans, etc. AIDS is much easier to transmit than Ebola yet I don't think anyone has thought of canceling their cruise because an AIDS patient might be on the ship.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Pam in CA

[hawkeyetlse]

AIDS is much easier to transmit than Ebola

That is totally incorrect. I agree that we are currently in a media-fuelled hysteria, and that overreacting to tiny risks can also be dangerous to public health, but misinformation is not useful.

[shredie]

I am far more concerned about staying home and getting gunned down in a movie theater or a school or a mall at the Christmas season. No, I won't be changing my travel plans at all.

 

 

Well said

[BrandiGreg]

As a recently retired ICU RN, nurse educator and hospital emergency management coordinator having taught classes on bioterrorism and infection control, I can tell you will some degree of certainty that there are no known strains of ebola virus whose transmission is increased by sitting in an airplane. It is transmitted via contact with body fluids, which is not ordinarily something that occurs between strangers on airplanes. Likewise with sharing a cruise ship with an infected person. This is not norovirus nor the flu.

[lovesublime]

LIKE. :)

 

The hysteria reminds me of when AIDS was considered a death sentence, patients were shunned, and people kept their kids out of school, canceled travel plans, etc. AIDS is much easier to transmit than Ebola yet I don't think anyone has thought of canceling their cruise because an AIDS patient might be on the ship.

 

 

No. I'm a nurse and this is not correct.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...I can only come to the conclusion the nurse was prioritizing her schedule over the reality of what she was in contact with at her job...

 

I worked in health care for years and saw this time and again. One reason was employer inflexibility in rescheduling vacations, and another was airlines charging huge penalties to change travel dates. Both of these need to be looked at on a national level to prevent the spread of Ebola, not to mention other diseases.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Ryndam2002

[hawkeyetlse]

It is transmitted via contact with body fluids, which is not ordinarily something that occurs between strangers on airplanes. Likewise with sharing a cruise ship with an infected person. This is not norovirus nor the flu.

I agree about airplanes (as long as the person is not showing advanced symptoms), and I agree that Ebola (again in early stages) is less contagious than noro or the flu.

 

But on a cruise ship, there is opportunity for contact with strangers' body fluids. Unlike HIV, Ebola can be transmitted by casual contact with sweat and saliva. You don't need to have sex with the person or share needles with them or ingest their excrement. Supposedly the contact has to be prolonged, so probably not just handling the same buffet utensils after someone else, but what about sharing the hot tub or steam room with them? Or using exercise equipment right after them in the gym?

[PescadoAmarillo]

Well, here's a question: if you knew you had contact with an active case of Ebola within the last 21 days, protective gear or no, and you were running any kind of fever, would you get on a commercial airplane? I hope the answer is no.

 

The health care workers are now under travel restrictions which obviously they should have been from the start. But I still think common sense and concern for the health of the general public should have kept her from traveling during the monitoring period.

What you're suggesting is that we have a medical team, much like we contract out so much of our military now, that is paid large amounts of money to risk their lives. Surely, if we could afford to pay Halliburton so much that they could afford to pay someone $80K for a four month contract to be a fry cook in Iraq during the height of the war, we value our safety enough to pay for a medical team to humanely treat patients yet keep the rest of us healthy.

 

I suggest we institute a tax right now to pay for this in an effort to keep us safe. In exchange for $500K or $1M, medical workers would sequester themselves and look after a single ebola patient.

 

I don't think it's fair to judge a 29-year old nurse, following instructions from those "supposedly" in the know, making $60K a year because she didn't sequester herself before it was even suggested.

[PenguinLife]

...Supposedly the contact has to be prolonged, so probably not just handling the same buffet utensils after someone else, but what about sharing the hot tub or steam room with them? Or using exercise equipment right after them in the gym?

 

 

Personally I doubt someone that has anything other than the very earliest symptoms of Ebola will be spending any time on exercise equipment

[hawkeyetlse]

Personally I doubt someone that has anything other than the very earliest symptoms of Ebola will be spending any time on exercise equipment

Maybe, but that implies that someone in the early stages could very well spend time in the gym or sauna. Haven't you ever heard someone say "I'm a little stuffed up today, I think I'll hit the steam room…" And no one really knows what the chances of transmission are in that sort of situation.

[Rob the Cruiser]

LIKE. :)

 

The hysteria reminds me of when AIDS was considered a death sentence, patients were shunned, and people kept their kids out of school, canceled travel plans, etc. AIDS is much easier to transmit than Ebola yet I don't think anyone has thought of canceling their cruise because an AIDS patient might be on the ship.

 

Before the hysteria, the public was told not to worry about AIDS unless they were a gay/bisexual male. Now we are told not to worry about Ebola. Sounds too familiar.

 

I'm not changing my travel plans but to dismiss this as a couple of isolated cases is careless.

[Pia1913]

Personally I doubt someone that has anything other than the very earliest symptoms of Ebola will be spending any time on exercise equipment

 

As someone who uses the exercise equipment on every cruise, I am amazed at how few actually attempt to wipe down the handles, etc. Before they use it, or after. These people are most likely the same ones who leave a restroom without washing their hands. :(

[bdjam]

Before the hysteria, the public was told not to worry about AIDS unless they were a gay/bisexual male. Now we are told not to worry about Ebola. Sounds too familiar.

 

As a gay man who survived the epidemic called AIDS, the way the disease was transmitted was not initially known. And because it showed up in the gay community first, it was considered a non-issue for the rest of the population (we won't go into the fact that gay men were allowed to dies in mass before protests and uprising actually made the government decide to address the epidemic). Once it was considered dangerous to the overall population, it was studied and the way it was transmitted was understood - THEN there was realization that the overall population could be infected. And then it was realized that you couldn't get it from drinking from the same glass, kissing someone or touching them.

 

Back to ebola, the method of transmission is known. The only reason for the different opinions here is the fact that the media is considered a more reliable source than actual medical authorities.

Edited October 16, 2014 by bdjam

[crush on cruises]

We just booked a British Isles cruise for May. We will reevaluate the situation before final payment. If things have totally exploded out of control we'll have time to cancel. I would worry a lot more about the 10 hour flight than the cruise. Time will tell how this is going to play out.

[Roses2]

Why, oh, why will not people read and understand the science of the disease rather than buying mass media hype.