Are #'s of people who get Norovirus underesimated?

[bajathree]

Got an interesting inside perspective. My friends were just recently on the Liberty a few weeks ago on the cruise right after the outbreak of Norovirus . Well to the best of my knowledge I didn't hear much about anybody publicly getting sick. However when my friends got back...good sized group of about 16....they told me 6 of them got it. I asked them how many other people were sick and they said only very few reports but then explained to me that if anyone on the ship reports it they would be confined to their cabin. Well out of the 6 of them NONE of them reported it.....well they did not run around the ship and do it to risk getting other people sick they just didn't want to be "labeled" and "confined". Well that got me thinking.....I am sure they weren't the only ones. So I got to wondering....just how many people never report their illness:confused:

[Sue L]

Probably quite a few when there is an outbreak because the ones who don't get confined spread it to others. Unfortunately your friends are one of the reasons that is spreads so quickly because if even they didn't run all over the ship they did touch x number of surfaces which are now infected and someone comes along and touches that surface and now gets it.

 

Most likely their group got it because they all infected each other just with the proximity of being a group.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Here's my guess. The numbers are under reported but not drastically under reported. This is my reasoning from what I heard on Liberty while I was one of the people quarantined.

 

The dining room staff is trained to notice rooms that order all meals from room service especially if those meals appear to be what sick people would eat such as just dry toast, bananas, apple sauce.

 

The stewards are trained to notice if people are always in the room and are never able to have the room cleaned or appear to be ill when the room needs to be cleaned, especially if this lasts a couple days.

 

The ship's crews are watching for signs and symptoms because they don't want to get sick either. They are just as likely to catch norovirus as anyone on the ship.

 

Yes, some folks don't report to the infirmary because they fear being quarantined, but if you have norvirus, you kind of self-quarantine anyway because you are too sick to run around the ship and you need to stick as close to the bathroom as you can get.

 

The problem comes from well roommates who don't feel sick, but know they will be quarantined if the person in the room is quarantined. I admit that is a lot to ask of a well person on vacation to stay in the room for 24 hours. Plus in such close confinement, they increase their own risk of getting the noro.

 

All told, my guess is if the ship is reporting say 100 cases, there are probably 125 to 150. It certainly wouldn't be a case of 100 reported cases when there are really 500 cases. I just can't believe that.

[cruisinmom1]

Did you eat at the buffets? How soon did you come down with it?

How long did they make you stay in your cabin?

Do you get any refunds if you have insurance?

[4bythebeach]

The numbers are underestimated for sure. I was quaranteened on Radiance in June and was told there were more than usual cases by one nurse and told several cases by another nurse, no one would put numbers on it. At the captain Q and A he said it was under 30, which was totally false! My son (who was in a seperate room and did not get sick) went into the fuel lounge and the counselors told him they were sorry to see his parents room on their quaranteen list and my son saw the list and said there were 40 or more rooms on it. This was only the third night of the 7 night cruise. I will say that I will bring my own Immodium from now on! As a previous poster said, you do not want to leave your room for fear of not being able to find a restroom in time, you essentially quaranteen yourself! You just aren't out of commision for as long. They quaranteened me for 48 hours and hubby (who never got ill) for 24.

I am sure that there are others out there who would do the same and not report it to the ship doctor, therefore those numbers aren't counted at all!

[standby 06.30]

www.cruisejunkie.com regards

[Fran Harp]

I am sure that there are others out there who would do the same and not report it to the ship doctor, therefore those numbers aren't counted at all!

 

Well, 30 cases would probably be "more than usual", in the best of all worlds. I am not sure, but I believe that if there are more than 200 cases on any ship it must be reported to the Centre for Disease Control, but under 200 don't have to be. Some ships report anyway. Once again, however, even 150 cases in a total ship contingent of 3500 passengers and crew, is no more than youw ould see on land in a normal population.

 

The problem, of course, is not RCI. It's the irresponsible people who do not report when they're sick because they don't want to be quarantined on their vacation (regardless of whether or not they spoil someone else's vacation by spreading it around.

 

Fran in Toronto

[lvtotrvl1]

and in truth..how many of these complaints are actually norovirus...I have cruised alot, and have seen people sick on every ship (long before norovirus was known)..I think people will call whatever they have norovirus, since it is a term heard of so often. Seasickness, and a diet that you normally don't eat (auantity or types of food), along with more juices, alcohol etc, can really make someone sick.

[mom2girls]

I agree that some of these cases are not noro virus. If you are able to take immodium and be fine then I don't think it's noro.

 

You definitely self-quarantine yourself. If I hadn't have notified the dr. I don't know if I would have gotten better. I haven't been that sick in a very long time!

 

The only problem I have is that if you don't notify the dr. you will get others sick. I didn't get sick until the 5th day. This basically ruined the rest of my vacation. Those that were sick were getting others sick!

 

Also, if you don't notify the dr. there is no way you will be compensated for time lost because you were sick.

[bajathree]

 

Also, if you don't notify the dr. there is no way you will be compensated for time lost because you were sick.

 

 

I have not heard of being compensated unless it is a big outbreak. Are you saying that if you get sick you are compensated for that amount of time?

[mom2girls]

Yes, I just got my future cruise certificate yesterday. The only problem is you only have a year to use it, and it can't be used during holiday cruises.

[MGoBlue2]

and in truth..how many of these complaints are actually norovirus...I have cruised alot, and have seen people sick on every ship (long before norovirus was known)..I think people will call whatever they have norovirus, since it is a term heard of so often. Seasickness, and a diet that you normally don't eat (auantity or types of food), along with more juices, alcohol etc, can really make someone sick.

Like the people who have 5-6 Pina Coladas without realizing that coconut juice is a laxative.

[DeepWaterMariner]

My theory on shipboard illness numbers is that cruise lines generally minimize the numbers they tell passengers and accurately report the numbers, if necessary, to the CDC. Passengers, on the other hand, usually overestimate the amount of illness based on hearing the same story from several different "hear say" sources and deciding they are separate cases of illness.

[cheaptravel]

We called RC last week after we got home. My husband got ill just 3 hours before disembarking. We at that point weren't sure what he had or how long it would last, and we were getting off right then anyway. I called RC to report the severity of his illness, and the woman in customer service was very rude and didn't even want to hear about it.

[FLCruiseGirl]

If you have it, you don't WANT to leave your room! And Immodium is not a good idea either. Whatever is in you that's causing the problem needs to get OUT!