One suggestion to curb Noro at the source...

[cruiserjt]

I think we are closer to a vaccine - sign me up! The other thought is to avoid the public restrooms when possible and use your stateroom. Some studies are evaluating if the virus survives in the air near the source. I will also have a fragrance free soap in my stateroom and know who has used the facilities other than me!

Watch for the vaccine to be studied in nursing homes in the future.

 

 

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[dna1990]

And freedom takes another blow. This is all conditioning. And apparently working quite well.

[BruceMuzz]

It is fine to disagree, but to manufacture statistics doesn't look very good.

 

Noro is easily spread and not all who contact the same items become ill. Therefore, you could wash your hands thoroughly, then touch anything that harbors the virus and you could carry it to another item or person.

 

Your advice to call out another person is not a good thing to do. It can only lead to problems.

 

If you do a bit of research on NLV, you will quickly learn that by far the most common method of infection is Fecal-Oral; in other words, from your a$$ to your mouth.

The second most common method is touching a surface that an unclean person has touched before you.

The third most common method is ingesting food or liquid that an unclean person has contaminated.

A distant fourth is inhaling spores that an infected person has aerosolized by vomiting in public.

 

Options 3 and 4 are quite rare. If you are unlucky to be a victim of those situations, you are a member of a very small minority.

 

But options 1 and 2 - the most common methods of catching an NLV infection - are entirely under your control.

 

There are very few avenues for NLV spores to enter your body; mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

In most cases, you get to decide if they can enter. Your hands can go unwashed for a week and they can be loaded with NLV spores; you will not contract the Virus if you keep those dirty hands out of your mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Once again - not rocket science. Just common sense. And Good Personal Hygiene.

 

I have been on over 1,400 cruises in my career (37 Years). Until recently I was shaking hands with many passengers who later admitted being ill with NLV. I have personally visited many cabins where passengers were vomiting everywhere, and the cabin was entirely contaminated. I have personally pushed many wheelchair bound passengers who were deathly ill with NLV.

I have assisted many times in cleaning up vomit in public areas of the ship, deposited by NLV affected passengers.

I have entered public toilets where NLV-affected pax had literally exploded from both ends, with the results all over the floors and walls.

I have managed many clean-ups on ships that had terrible NLV outbreaks, with hundreds of people sick, seemingly everywhere.

 

So how many times do you guess I have contracted NLV in those 37 years on ships?

NEVER.

 

I NEVER allow the virus to enter my body.

I NEVER use hand sanitizers. They do not work very well on viruses.

I NEVER eat in buffets - that is the best location to get infected.

I NEVER use public toilets - that is the second best location to get infected.

I ALWAYS wash my hands properly - very, very often.

I NEVER put my hands into my mouth, nose, eyes, or ears unless I am sure that they are properly clean.

 

It's that simple. No rocket science involved. No special procedures or tests necessary.

[Shak]

I just heard this on ABC News.

 

(WASHINGTON) -- Norovirus, while commonly associated with cruise ships, is much more prevalent than most people think, according to a new report out Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Health officials say the illness is responsible for nearly half -- 48 percent -- of all of the country’s foodborne outbreaks and sickens 20 million Americans each year.

 

But, as the report finds, foodborne outbreaks involving norovirus are not caused by the food itself. Rather, they are caused by food handlers who carry the infection themselves and spread it through unhygienic practices like coming to work while sick and not washing their hands adequately.

 

What may be even more interesting about this foodborne bug is that norovirus is not restricted to any type of food in particular. In fact, all types of food can potentially be affected, as more than 90 percent of contamination of food with norovirus happens in the last food handling step.

 

“Norovirus is one tough bug,” noted CDC Director Tom Frieden, who added that although norovirus is called “food poisoning,” the illness actually comes from people -- that is, from infected food workers who come into contact with food.

 

Read On ABC News Radio: http://abcnewsradioonline.com/health-news/cdc-report-norovirus-more-common-than-you-think.html#ixzz33edl9Y9t

 

Shak

[Galveston Cruiser]

The same report stated that only 1% of those affected by Noro are on cruise ships.

 

Unfortunately it is the media who blow everything out of proportion:rolleyes:

[BruceMuzz]

I just heard this on ABC News.

 

(WASHINGTON) -- Norovirus, while commonly associated with cruise ships, is much more prevalent than most people think, according to a new report out Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Health officials say the illness is responsible for nearly half -- 48 percent -- of all of the country’s foodborne outbreaks and sickens 20 million Americans each year.

 

But, as the report finds, foodborne outbreaks involving norovirus are not caused by the food itself. Rather, they are caused by food handlers who carry the infection themselves and spread it through unhygienic practices like coming to work while sick and not washing their hands adequately.

 

What may be even more interesting about this foodborne bug is that norovirus is not restricted to any type of food in particular. In fact, all types of food can potentially be affected, as more than 90 percent of contamination of food with norovirus happens in the last food handling step.

 

“Norovirus is one tough bug,” noted CDC Director Tom Frieden, who added that although norovirus is called “food poisoning,” the illness actually comes from people -- that is, from infected food workers who come into contact with food.

 

Read On ABC News Radio: http://abcnewsradioonline.com/health-news/cdc-report-norovirus-more-common-than-you-think.html#ixzz33edl9Y9t

 

Shak

 

It's unfortunate that the local health departments in America are not enforcing the much higher standards that the US Public Health Service maintains for foreign flag ships.

In America, 1 in 10 people has Norwalk Virus every year.

On Ships, the number is something like 1 in 5,000.

[Beachdude]

It's unfortunate that the local health departments in America are not enforcing the much higher standards that the US Public Health Service maintains for foreign flag ships.

In America, 1 in 10 people has Norwalk Virus every year.

On Ships, the number is something like 1 in 5,000.

 

I'm not sure what else we can do, assign a government paid employee in every restroom of every eating establishment? I think locally that “wash your hands” signs are required in both the bathrooms and kitchens of all restaurants. But it’s like texting while driving, we know it’s dangerous but people are still doing it. It is a lot easier to control food preparers on a single ship than a single city. But even then, ships still get Noro.

 

The point of the report is that most Noro is transferred by food preparers and us as a culture just need to get better about washing hands. I am amazed even at work at the number of men I see leaving a restroom without washing their hands. I admit I’m shy about saying something, but how many of us are starting to get more vocal with texting while driving?

 

Burt

[BruceMuzz]

I'm not sure what else we can do, assign a government paid employee in every restroom of every eating establishment? I think locally that “wash your hands” signs are required in both the bathrooms and kitchens of all restaurants. But it’s like texting while driving, we know it’s dangerous but people are still doing it. It is a lot easier to control food preparers on a single ship than a single city. But even then, ships still get Noro.

 

The point of the report is that most Noro is transferred by food preparers and us as a culture just need to get better about washing hands. I am amazed even at work at the number of men I see leaving a restroom without washing their hands. I admit I’m shy about saying something, but how many of us are starting to get more vocal with texting while driving?

 

Burt

 

It's all about standards.

 

If you work at McDonalds and come to work sick, you get paid.

If you work on a ship and come to work sick, you get fired and sent home at your expense.

 

A few years ago the Amerian Hotel and Motel Association sent their food sanitation training materials to my ship.

We threw them away.

The standards in the manuals were so poor that my ship would fail a USPH inspection if we followed them.

[sail7seas]

After decades of development, the best currently existing NLV test requires a stool sample and about one week to get reliable results. And it is quite expensive.

By the time we get the results, the people suffering have recovered, gone home and back to work, and have forgotten the entire episode.

 

I predict that by the time cruise ships are floating around distant planets rather than on Earth's Oceans, there will be a quick, easy, and affordable test as you describe. Unfortunately you and I will be long gone, and no longer worrying about unclean behavior.

 

Meanwhile, if we could just educate those people raised by wolves on how a civilized human wipes his/her bottom and then properly washes hands afterward, we wouldn't need to spend all that money and wait for all those years.

 

We don't need any rocket science for this.

 

Maybe much of the blame does not belong to 'people raised by wolves' but according to new studies and reports by CDC, food handlers are a major source of spreading the infection.

 

It seems even those with meticulous hygiene habits should stay away from salad bar, ready to eat sandwiches, cookies and the like. Their clean hands will not protect them from food infected with virus by food handlers. According to this report, it could be up to 70% of the cases can be traced to unclean hands/condition for food handlers. :eek:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/norovirus/index.html

 

 

Edited June 4, 2014 by sail7seas

[navybankerteacher]

If you do a bit of research on NLV, you will quickly learn that by far the most common method of infection is Fecal-Oral; in other words, from your a$$ to your mouth.

 

Of course, it is somewhat redundant to refer to getting infected from your

"...a$$ to your mouth...". The only way that could infect you with the virus would be it's already being your system. Sadly, what you meant to say was from someone else's "...a$$ to your mouth..." -- by means of touching a surface which that slovenly person touched after not washing his hands.

 

There are very few avenues for NLV spores to enter your body; mouth, nose, ears, and eyes.

In most cases, you get to decide if they can enter. Your hands can go unwashed for a week and they can be loaded with NLV spores; you will not contract the Virus if you keep those dirty hands out of your mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Once again - not rocket science. Just common sense. And Good Personal Hygiene.

 

 

Sorry about the unfortunate (but clearly appropriate) reference to someone else'

"a$$" - but we are talking about the spread of NORO, not self-reinfect ion.

[BruceMuzz]

We agree.

You sit on a public toilet that was recently used by someone still infectious from NLV.

After doing your business, you fail to wash your hands - or fail to wash them properly.

Or he/she failed to wash their hands properly and touched the door knob that you are now touching.

You are still OK so long as you do not put your contaminated hands into your mouth, nose, eyes, or ears (or pockets or purse, or handle your room key).

 

The virus still has not entered your body. You are safe. You alone control your fate and your health.

But then you put a finger into your mouth or nose or eyes, or handle some food.

 

Now you have NLV.

[luddite]

Maybe much of the blame does not belong to 'people raised by wolves' but according to new studies and reports by CDC, food handlers are a major source of spreading the infection.

 

It seems even those with meticulous hygiene habits should stay away from salad bar, ready to eat sandwiches, cookies and the like. Their clean hands will not protect them from food infected with virus by food handlers. According to this report, it could be up to 70% of the cases can be traced to unclean hands/condition for food handlers. :eek:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/norovirus/index.html

 

 

 

No. It's from people raised by wolves.

Food handlers are a side effect.

[swedish weave]

If you do a bit of research on NLV, you will quickly learn that by far the most common method of infection is Fecal-Oral; in other words, from your a$$ to your mouth.

 

Let's be real !!!! How many people who get infected do this ????

 

The virus can be spread by anyone who touches any object and either deposits or retrieves the virus from that.

 

I have done research and believe I understand how this virus operates.

 

It is not necessarily the "nasty people" who get and/or spread this virus. As I said before, the cleanest person on the ship can get or spread this virus.

Edited June 5, 2014 by swedish weave