Is Norwalk a "Class Disease"?

[Sundagger]

I'm extremely interested in epidemiology. After a long look at the CDC's outbreak reports, I noticed that there are a handful of ships that show up over and over --- the Seven Seas Mariner is one of them, also the Ryndam. Does anyone know if either of these ships serves an itinerary that might make it vulnerable to outbreaks?

 

Also, I would consider the possibility that many lower-income passengers may have jobs that bring them in contact with many people in the course of a day (I'm thinking jobs in service or retail, teaching jobs, office jobs with lots of coworkers, and such), increasing their odds of picking up the virus.

 

Well, you won't find any lower-income people on Seven Seas Mariner. Most people (except Philip) consider it to be a luxury line. The Mariner generally cruises around South America and Pan-Pacific.

 

The HAL Ryndam is in the general price range of most mainline cruiselines, but probably attracts a slightly higher income group due to its traditionality. It has been cruising a 10 day western Mexico route for some time.

[BroncosFan2010]

I think it might have more to do with the fact that fewer people are on the luxury lines. If a smaller percent of the "infected" people enter a cruise ship, there is less likely to be an outbreak.

 

I also think it might have more to do with the numbers of children that are on some of the mass market lines. Children are "little petry dishes" and carry many illness, often without getting sick. I have family members who are teachers and it just takes one child to come to class sick, and all the staff get sick. Surprisingly, not very many of the other children will get sick. Children are also more likely to not practice good hygine (not using kleenex, not covering mouth when coughing, being unsupervised at the buffet...etc..), or have to be reminded more often.

 

The more people you cram into a tiny space, the more illness will spread.

I doubt it has anything to do with the "class" of people.

[Hlitner]

There are more myths than facts on these boards about Norwalk (or Norovirus). So, lets talk some facts. Its a very common virus and in most cases, results in a few days of GI discomfort (an understatement for some) and cannot be treated with antibiotics. This virus is not an exclusive cruise ship problem and is much more common on land. In fact, England has recently been undergoing an epidemic in Noro. But, when you get it at home its just classified as a nasty stomach virus and life goes on! Because ships are confined environments, its very difficult to prevent the spread of Noro (or other viruses such as the Flu) among passengers. All it takes is one (or more) passengers to come on-board with a bug which than is everyone's problem. So, what to do? Well, about the only thing you can do is to simply wash your hands with soap and water as often as possible (hand sanitizers such as Purell are virtually useless against Noro) and pray that you are lucky. For what its worth (not much) we have spent nearly 2 years of our lives on cruise ships (11 different cruise lines and more than 50 different ships of all sizes) and never had Noro on a cruise.

 

Hank