Norovirus on Zaandam

Per local news today there is a Norovirus outbreak on Zaandam. Hopefully they can get it in check quickly.

https://q13fox.com/2018/06/22/cruise-ship-that-departed-seattle-stops-in-alaska-with-reported-norovirus-outbreak/

CDC: FACTS sbout noro-virus on cruise ships, which account for only 1% of all noro-virus reporting.

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/norovirus/norovirus.htm

Used to be known as Travellers diarrhea, tourista, Dehli Belly, Montezuma's revenge ..etc. etc

Wash your hands and hope you are not one of the few unlucky ones who gets it. Happens in any close setting. Passes relatively quickly. Very strict cruise ship incidence reporting required. No one wants this to happen, so great care is taken onboard to prevent it. Also can be picked up when eating ashore. It does not deserve the lurid headlines it gets on cruise ships.

Sorry to hear this.

Hope they get it under controlled.

Per local news today there is a Norovirus outbreak on Zaandam. Hopefully they can get it in check quickly.

 

https://q13fox.com/2018/06/22/cruise-ship-that-departed-seattle-stops-in-alaska-with-reported-norovirus-outbreak/

Oh no! We board her a week from now. Fingers crossed they get it under control.

The CDC website does not yet list a causative agent. The smart money is on norovirus.

Ill passengers: 58 of 1,472 (3.94%)

Ill crew: 15 of 591 (2.54%)

I wonder how high the numbers will climb, the cruise continues until July 2. This article mentions that the visitor center at Mendenhall Glacier steps up sanitation efforts during outbreaks: https://www.ktoo.org/2018/06/22/holland-america-cruise-in-alaska-hit-by-norovirus/

Oh no! We board her a week from now. Fingers crossed they get it under control.

We have been on a few cruises with GI illness. Good to know in advance- wash, wash, wash. Avoid touching railings, elevator buttons, etc. I use knuckle or elbow to press buttons.

Keep hands away from nose and mouth and you should be fine.

We wipe remotes, chairs, phones, etc in our cabin with Wet Ones when we board (every cruise).

Thanks for sharing the info.

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If people listen and cooperate they should be able to end it before coming back to Seattle. If no reports for 48 hours they consider it over.

Also sailing July 2. I will be taking extra precautions.

It started on the cruise before this one. We were there and we had it. Crew member mentioned that a lot of passengers were feeling ill, but said it was from rolling seas. Just now starting to feel better.

We have been on a few cruises with GI illness. Good to know in advance- wash, wash, wash. Avoid touching railings, elevator buttons, etc. I use knuckle or elbow to press buttons.

 

Keep hands away from nose and mouth and you should be fine.

 

We wipe remotes, chairs, phones, etc in our cabin with Wet Ones when we board (every cruise).

All good advice. Thanks. We are big believers in frequent handwashing!

Also sailing July 2. I will be taking extra precautions.

There are no such things as "extra precautions". There are reasonable precautions everyone should follow anyway.

We have been on a few cruises with GI illness. Good to know in advance- wash, wash, wash. Avoid touching railings, elevator buttons, etc. I use knuckle or elbow to press buttons.

 

Keep hands away from nose and mouth and you should be fine.

 

We wipe remotes, chairs, phones, etc in our cabin with Wet Ones when we board (every cruise).

You nailed it. Except maybe thinking "Wet Ones" offer anything special or magical. They do not, other than general surface debridement that any other wipe-down can also provide without needing to buy and dispose a commercial product that is nothing more than an equivalent for "soap and water".

Zaandam is due here on July 1; the paper today said "Results of onboard tests have been negative for norovirus".... "Further tests will be carried out by the CDC."

We’ve never been on a HAL cruise where they actually confirmed there was a norovirus outbreak of over 2% onboard. What does HAL actually do onboard when the 2% CDC threshold has been reached?

We’ve been on Princess and Oceania cruises where their implementation strategies were completely different. Just curious what HAL does in a code red situation.

I tried to change the subject line on this after my original post to GI illness but CC wouldn't let me change the subject.. I wish the press would do the same and call it GI illness until Norovirus is officially confirmed.

Since the ship has been out for almost a week is possible that 96 people ate something on shore or on board that affected them.

I tried to change the subject line on this after my original post to GI illness but CC wouldn't let me change the subject.. I wish the press would do the same and call it GI illness until Norovirus is officially confirmed.

 

Since the ship has been out for almost a week is possible that 96 people ate something on shore or on board that affected them.

Could they have been on a shore excursion? But more likely one or a few active infection agents spread this quickly around the ship to others through cross-contamination, as can be common with this still unidentified "bug". Which is why one does not take "special precautions". One always takes precautions until it becomes a way of life - even now on shore.

We wipe remotes, chairs, phones, etc in our cabin with Wet Ones when we board (every cruise).

We also use Wet Ones....

We wipe down the remote, chair arms, phone....and all the door knobs and slider door handle....

I keep the individual packets of Wet Ones in my pocket in case we need them...especially after getting on and off a tour bus....

Our trips usually include an airline flight....and we wipe down the tray table, seat belt buckle and chair arms....

So far....fingers crossed.....we haven't gotten sick......

I'm sailing on July 2. Thanks for the tips. Hopefully they will have it clean and safe by the time we board.

We also use Wet Ones....

 

 

 

We wipe down the remote, chair arms, phone....and all the door knobs and slider door handle....

 

 

 

I keep the individual packets of Wet Ones in my pocket in case we need them...especially after getting on and off a tour bus....

 

 

 

Our trips usually include an airline flight....and we wipe down the tray table, seat belt buckle and chair arms....

 

 

 

So far....fingers crossed.....we haven't gotten sick......

We take antibacterial wipes...wipe down everything around our seats on our flights...arm rests, seat belt clasps, arm rests, etc. I even offer a wipe to my seat mates. Get to our hotel room, ship cabin and wipe down everything there. Excessive? Maybe but we have never gotten sick. We also don’t use the elevator on the ship, don’t touch the handrails and use the hand sanitizer/power wash in the LIdo

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From the Guardian - learning the difference between surface sanitation and hand sanitation:

So–here’s what you can do to get rid of noroviruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control:

–Bleach-cleaning: “Because of this uncertainty, whenever possible, chlorine bleach solution should be applied to hard, nonporous, environmental surfaces at a concentration of 1,000–5,000 ppm (5–25 tablespoons household bleach [5.25%] per gallon of water).” Bathrooms, door knobs, and other places where the virus is likely to be lurking when someone’s sick in the house should be on the to-clean list.

–Hand-washing: “Overall, studies suggest that proper hand washing with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds is the most effective way to reduce norovirus contamination on the hands.” Forget all the fancy alcohol and antibiotic-laced potions.

–Hand-washing: “Overall, studies suggest that proper hand washing with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds is the most effective way to reduce norovirus contamination on the hands.” Forget all the fancy alcohol and antibiotic-laced potions.

There's no arguing that hand-washing is the "most effective way to reduce norovirus contamination on the hands.” However, the CCD does not dismiss alcohol-based sanitizers: "Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used in addition to hand washing. But, they should not be used as a substitute for washing with soap and water. ” There are times that washing hands is simply not possible, and the application of a high-percentage alcohol sanitizer is a sound second choice.

There's no arguing that hand-washing is the "most effective way to reduce norovirus contamination on the hands.” However, the CCD does not dismiss alcohol-based sanitizers: "Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used in addition to hand washing. But, they should not be used as a substitute for washing with soap and water. ” There are times that washing hands is simply not possible, and the application of a high-percentage alcohol sanitizer is a sound second choice.

How high a percentage of alcohol does your hand wipe contain and how long does it need to be in contact with your skin. What type of alcohol as one type has more sanitation effect than another. Here is your research from NIH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4919085/ Use it when selecting your alcohol-based "hand wipes".

The only value of most commercial pocket "hand wipes" is superficial removal. Any sort of hand wipe does that. So that is their secondary value. Don't invest them with mythical powers. Unless mythological powers are essential to your own body-mind mediated immune system.

Pick your "hand wipes" from this list of CDC approved products for effectiveness against noro-virus: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/list_g_norovirus.pdf

How high a percentage of alcohol does your hand wipe contain and how long does it need to be in contact with your skin. What type of alcohol as one type has more sanitation effect than another.

 

The only value of most commercial pocket "hand wipes" is superficial removal. Any sort of hand wipe does that. So that is their secondary value. Don't invest them with mythical powers. Unless mythological powers are essential to your own body-mind mediated immune system.

CDC recommends an alcohol percentage of 60-95% and says that "When using hand sanitizer, apply the product to the palm of one hand (read the label to learn the correct amount) and rub the product all over the surfaces of your hands until your hands are dry."