Neptune GI Outbreak

[Carolfay]

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2023/06/articles/disease/gastrointestinal-illness-outbreak-on-viking-neptune-cruise-ship-sickens-over-12-of-guests/

 

Wondering if I should pack extra Pepto-Bismol and Immodium when I embark next month . . .

[uktog]

As long as you also report any symptoms you can pack what you like! 

[CDNPolar]

If this is Norovirus, which it likely is, there is no cure, you just have to let it take its course.

 

Not sure if Pepto or Immodium would do anything for you or not.  

 

I got something in Egypt that the Egyptian doctor laughed when I mentioned Immodium, as it did nothing.  Literally no change after many doses.

 

WE MUST CONTINUE to wash our hands, and Norovirus is passed because people are not washing their hands after using the restroom and then touching utensils on the buffet and door handles.

 

Disgusting.

 

How is it spread? Noroviruses are very contagious. They are found in the stool (feces) or vomit of infected people. From there, noroviruses are transferred to food, water, or surfaces by the hands of infected people who have not washed adequately after using the bathroom.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by CDNPolar

[Carolfay]

My sarcastic humor obviously missed its mark.  In fact, I do take this seriously, and I trust that Viking will enforce hygiene rules.

[Selion]

The pandemic is over.  Why should I bother washing hands?

[May B]

2 minutes ago, Selion said:

The pandemic is over.  Why should I bother washing hands?

Scary, isn’t it?

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

.  

 

I got something in Egypt that the Egyptian doctor laughed when I mentioned Immodium, as it did nothing.  Literally no change after many doses.

 

 

 

Was watching a YouTube video yesterday about a Nile cruise and the poster (maybe Gary Bembridge🤔) said that they had been given an Egyptian remedy…need to figure out what it is before we go….if we decide to join friends going in 2024. 

[downsmead]

5 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Was watching a YouTube video yesterday about a Nile cruise and the poster (maybe Gary Bembridge🤔) said that they had been given an Egyptian remedy…need to figure out what it is before we go….if we decide to join friends going in 2024. 

Do share if you find out, we are sailing late October this year on the Ra 

[Clay Clayton]

12 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Do share if you find out, we are sailing late October this year on the Ra 

It was Gary Bembridge and he just says “the local remedy”.  

[downsmead]

1 minute ago, Clay Clayton said:

It was Gary Bembridge and he just says “the local remedy”.  

Ok, many thanks, we hopefully will not need to find out what the ‘local remedy’ is 🤞😂

[SJD117]

We also hope to travel to Egypt next year. I have occasional G-I issues due to ongoing cancer treatment, but I don’t plan to rely on Egyptian “remedies.” (Don’t worry, I wash my hands!)  🤣

Edited June 20, 2023 by SJD117

[Haqdeluxe]

It is likely a product called “Antinal”. It's available from most pharmacies in Egypt without a prescription.

[Meander Ingwa]

Antinal is an old Nitrofurasone antibiotic which will go nothing for a viral bowel disorder.  Widely used in some livestock 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Meander Ingwa

[Packman1000]

Great.  I'm getting on the Neptune in 12 days.  Hope they clean the ship thoroughly. 

[Mich3554]

Everyone on the Neptune was VERY careful not to call it norovirus, but a gastrointestinal illness.  
It did make the last week or so on the ship difficult.  The poor waitstaff had to do everything, and they were run off their feet.  We ordered room service this morning before disembarking.  According to another world cruiser who was behind me in line in immigrations this morning, she said it was crazy on steroids up there.  We made a good decision.

[CDNPolar]

10 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

Everyone on the Neptune was VERY careful not to call it norovirus, but a gastrointestinal illness.  
It did make the last week or so on the ship difficult.  The poor waitstaff had to do everything, and they were run off their feet.  We ordered room service this morning before disembarking.  According to another world cruiser who was behind me in line in immigrations this morning, she said it was crazy on steroids up there.  We made a good decision.

 

The news now is definitely calling it Norovirus.

[CDNPolar]

14 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Was watching a YouTube video yesterday about a Nile cruise and the poster (maybe Gary Bembridge🤔) said that they had been given an Egyptian remedy…need to figure out what it is before we go….if we decide to join friends going in 2024. 

 

We were on the Nile cruise with friends.  12 days total with 8 nights on the ship and 4 in port at a high end hotel in Cairo.

 

We were told very directly when picked up from the airport that they did NOT recommend us eating or drinking outside of the hotel or ship.  We could if we wanted to, but they highly recommended that we did not.

 

On the second last full day on the ship of 70 guests, our friend doubled over in pain and had vomiting and diarrhoea.  Bad to the point that the ship called a doctor.  Pain injections and anitspasmodics and antibiotics.  3-4 hours after the doctor visit she felt "human" again and was fine to leave the ship the 2 days later.

 

24 hours after leaving the ship, I woke early - 4am - in the hotel and had diarrhoea symptoms.  This was the day of the Pyramids and yes, I had to miss it.  I did not have the pain that our friend had.

 

Our tour guide was checking on me through my husband throughout the day and because I was not getting better, the tour guide called the hotel and the hotel called in a doctor.

 

Doctor and Nurse arrived with a big bag and an IV pole.  IV with antispasmodics, and the pharmacy delivered 3 boxes of pills, and 90 minutes later they left me in my room to recover.  The pills were two types of antibiotics and one antispasmodic.

 

Neither doctor could say exactly what caused our symptoms, but the interesting thing is that of the 70 people that spent 12 days together, we were the only two that got sick.  No one else was even mildly sick.

 

Doctor "laughed" at me when I showed him Immodium and said, this will never work in Egypt.

 

I asked the doctor how many tourists he sees and he said that "This is my business".

 

$200 UDS for my hotel / house call and $10 for the meds.

 

I have been told that there is an Egyptian cure for this but no one named it.

 

Just be very careful with what you eat and drink and from where in Egypt.

 

 

[Frenchberet]

4 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We were on the Nile cruise with friends.  12 days total with 8 nights on the ship and 4 in port at a high end hotel in Cairo.

 

We were told very directly when picked up from the airport that they did NOT recommend us eating or drinking outside of the hotel or ship.  We could if we wanted to, but they highly recommended that we did not.

 

On the second last full day on the ship of 70 guests, our friend doubled over in pain and had vomiting and diarrhoea.  Bad to the point that the ship called a doctor.  Pain injections and anitspasmodics and antibiotics.  3-4 hours after the doctor visit she felt "human" again and was fine to leave the ship the 2 days later.

 

24 hours after leaving the ship, I woke early - 4am - in the hotel and had diarrhoea symptoms.  This was the day of the Pyramids and yes, I had to miss it.  I did not have the pain that our friend had.

 

Our tour guide was checking on me through my husband throughout the day and because I was not getting better, the tour guide called the hotel and the hotel called in a doctor.

 

Doctor and Nurse arrived with a big bag and an IV pole.  IV with antispasmodics, and the pharmacy delivered 3 boxes of pills, and 90 minutes later they left me in my room to recover.  The pills were two types of antibiotics and one antispasmodic.

 

Neither doctor could say exactly what caused our symptoms, but the interesting thing is that of the 70 people that spent 12 days together, we were the only two that got sick.  No one else was even mildly sick.

 

Doctor "laughed" at me when I showed him Immodium and said, this will never work in Egypt.

 

I asked the doctor how many tourists he sees and he said that "This is my business".

 

$200 UDS for my hotel / house call and $10 for the meds.

 

I have been told that there is an Egyptian cure for this but no one named it.

 

Just be very careful with what you eat and drink and from where in Egypt.

 

 

Did you eat or drink anything outside of the hotel or ship?  Any idea where you picked up the “bug”?

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We were on the Nile cruise with friends.  12 days total with 8 nights on the ship and 4 in port at a high end hotel in Cairo.

 

We were told very directly when picked up from the airport that they did NOT recommend us eating or drinking outside of the hotel or ship.  We could if we wanted to, but they highly recommended that we did not.

 

On the second last full day on the ship of 70 guests, our friend doubled over in pain and had vomiting and diarrhoea.  Bad to the point that the ship called a doctor.  Pain injections and anitspasmodics and antibiotics.  3-4 hours after the doctor visit she felt "human" again and was fine to leave the ship the 2 days later.

 

24 hours after leaving the ship, I woke early - 4am - in the hotel and had diarrhoea symptoms.  This was the day of the Pyramids and yes, I had to miss it.  I did not have the pain that our friend had.

 

Our tour guide was checking on me through my husband throughout the day and because I was not getting better, the tour guide called the hotel and the hotel called in a doctor.

 

Doctor and Nurse arrived with a big bag and an IV pole.  IV with antispasmodics, and the pharmacy delivered 3 boxes of pills, and 90 minutes later they left me in my room to recover.  The pills were two types of antibiotics and one antispasmodic.

 

Neither doctor could say exactly what caused our symptoms, but the interesting thing is that of the 70 people that spent 12 days together, we were the only two that got sick.  No one else was even mildly sick.

 

Doctor "laughed" at me when I showed him Immodium and said, this will never work in Egypt.

 

I asked the doctor how many tourists he sees and he said that "This is my business".

 

$200 UDS for my hotel / house call and $10 for the meds.

 

I have been told that there is an Egyptian cure for this but no one named it.

 

Just be very careful with what you eat and drink and from where in Egypt.

 

 

Yes in the video Gary talked about how careful he was even sanitizing his hands after handling money.  He didn’t get sick but said others onboard did and that’s when he mentioned other passengers getting the local cure from the ship.   I’ve messaged him and he said he can’t remember what it was but thinks he has it written down at home and will let me know when he gets off his current cruise.
 

I hate him😂

Edited June 21, 2023 by Clay Clayton

[CDNPolar]

Just now, Frenchberet said:

Did you eat or drink anything outside of the hotel or ship?  Any idea where you picked up the “bug”?

We were the most diligent of all on board I am sure.

 

We did NOT eat anything that was not provided by the ship or the hotel.

 

Odd thing is that we were the only 2 of 70 people that got sick... so where did it come from?  We will never know.

Our friends doctor felt it was the falafel and my doctor thought it was dairy related, but the day of the falafel on the ship, we all ate it.  The night before me getting sick the only dairy was cheesecake for dessert, and everyone was served cheesecake.  Again, I was the only one.

 

It will remain a mystery.

[CDNPolar]

Just now, Clay Clayton said:

 

I hate him😂

 

I know - what a life....  I feel your "hate"....  Haha

[Mich3554]

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

The news now is definitely calling it Norovirus.

I know.  I assumed it was norovirus too.  
The news had the numbers wrong though.  Case counts were announced daily, and they were no where near 100 passengers.  Most was about 2% of the passengers.  
I have no doubt my info is correct.  I was talking to the captain, and he said that he has a policy to never lie to passengers.  Since the numbers affected were announced daily, I tend to believe him over a news report.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Mich3554

[LindaS272]

From the CDC

Viking Neptune

 

Cruise Line: Viking Cruises

Cruise Ship: Viking Neptune

Voyage Dates: June 6–June 20, 2023

Voyage number: 10005092

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 110 of 838 (13.1%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 9 of 455 (1.98%)

Predominant symptoms: abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea

Causative agents: norovirus

Actions: In response to the outbreak, Viking Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Collecting stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to send to the CDC lab for pathogenic identification.
• Providing twice daily updates on the number of gastrointestinal illness cases to VSP.

VSP environmental health officers boarded the ship at port in New York to conduct an environmental health assessment.

Note: The gastrointestinal illness cases reported are totals for the entire voyage and do not represent the number of active (symptomatic) gastrointestinal cases at any given port of call or at disembarkation.

Learn how passengers can protect themselves with these tips for healthy cruising.

[CurlerRob]

42 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

From the CDC

Viking Neptune

 

Cruise Line: Viking Cruises

Cruise Ship: Viking Neptune

Voyage Dates: June 6–June 20, 2023

Voyage number: 10005092

Number of passengers who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 110 of 838 (13.1%)

Number of crew who reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 9 of 455 (1.98%)

 

Thank you for this - the CDC VSP site is always the authoritative voice for GI outbreaks that fall under their purview. 🍺🥌

 

What was more concerning to me is that the number of outbreaks across all lines (13) so far is comparable to full-year histories pre-Covid - but we are only halfway through the year. One would have hoped that we had learned basic hygiene lessons from the pandemic. 👿

[Meander Ingwa]

I think it is notable that the crew had a lower incidence of illness, despite their closer quarters and contact with each other and with passenger personal areas , like bathrooms and beds.  I suspect the work staff are well versed in personal sanitation and safety and know it is a vital part of their job.