Influenza A / Swine Flu : Ovation of the Seas

[cdwh1902]

We just enjoyed the inaugural cruise to Hobart and New Zealand on the Ovation of the Seas. It was a beautiful ship and full praise to the crew who were fastidious and diligent in sanitizing the ship continually -handrails, chairs, tables were constantly being wiped down. The innovative hand washing stations were flat out and no one was allowed to even walk through the Windjammer unless you 'washy,washy,happy,happy' - sung by the allocated crew member who monitored every passenger. Luckily we were never affected by the gastro outbreak.

 

Between Auckland and Sydney a number of passengers I noticed developed coughs and colds, usually associated with air conditioned environs. I developed Asthma which was triggered off by an cold section of the hallway near our stateroom. I managed it by using my asthmatic medications and spent the last day or so in our stateroom as I was feeling pretty tired as I wasn't sleeping particularly well. At the same time, my husband developed a blocked salivary gland, which was to be diagnosed later as being infected. He had developed a temperature and a dry cough and felt lousy. He also stayed in our stateroom and we both had room service. We were a great pair.

 

We flew home on the Friday afternoon and as soon as we arrived home I made an appointment and went and saw the GP. She immediately referred me up to the hospital because of my low oxygen saturation levels and breathlessness. I ended up being admitted and had every conceivable test done, including a Floc swab (not nice). I was diagnosed with an exacerbated Asthma event and was treated accordingly. You can imagine my (and the medical team's) surprise when my Floc pathology results came back the next day saying that I had Influenza A or Swine Flu. I am a retired nurse and am cognizant of what is going on and in taking preventive health measures and had been diligent in doing so. We both had our Fluvax in April , which is suppose to protect against H1N1 strain - but somehow it didn't.

 

Immediate biohazard precautions were instigated, staff wore gowns, gloves and masks etc and I had to wear a special mask. At no time did I experience high fevers, moist cough (I did have a dry hacking cough which I put down to my Asthma) or feel lousy - only tired - again attributed to my low oxygen levels.

 

I was concerned about the ship and mentioned to the medical staff that Royal Caribbean and Virgin Australia would need to be notified ASAP. They assured me that as it is a regulatory Notifiable Disease that the Commonwealth Public Health Communicable Diseases Department is automatically notified and it is their role to coordinate that process.The main problem with this holiday period everyone is closed, and processes have been delayed.

 

I am now home - past my infectious period and still have a cough, but feeling much better. My husband's results don't come through until tomorrow, although it is expected they will also come back positive, but he is now on antibiotics. We have notified our friends from the ship - some who were sick before we were and have encouraged them to follow through.

 

I have posted this for others to be aware of even the slightest symptoms - although no one could have predicted this. I don't know how many others have been infected - I imagine most people have probably got off the ship and then developed a flu and have not worried about seeking medical assistance. If so, please follow it up. You need a Floc test for confirmation. I'm sure we are only a small piece of the puzzle.

[sewgood]

Thanks for trying to let others know who were on this cruise during this holiday period.

Lets hope it does spread too far.

[NumnuT]

We're onboard Now and all good 🤓

 

Sent from my HTC 2PS6200 using Forums mobile app

[Hogbay]

We just enjoyed the inaugural cruise to Hobart and New Zealand on the Ovation of the Seas. It was a beautiful ship and full praise to the crew who were fastidious and diligent in sanitizing the ship continually -handrails, chairs, tables were constantly being wiped down. The innovative hand washing stations were flat out and no one was allowed to even walk through the Windjammer unless you 'washy,washy,happy,happy' - sung by the allocated crew member who monitored every passenger. Luckily we were never affected by the gastro outbreak.

 

Between Auckland and Sydney a number of passengers I noticed developed coughs and colds, usually associated with air conditioned environs. I developed Asthma which was triggered off by an cold section of the hallway near our stateroom. I managed it by using my asthmatic medications and spent the last day or so in our stateroom as I was feeling pretty tired as I wasn't sleeping particularly well. At the same time, my husband developed a blocked salivary gland, which was to be diagnosed later as being infected. He had developed a temperature and a dry cough and felt lousy. He also stayed in our stateroom and we both had room service. We were a great pair.

 

We flew home on the Friday afternoon and as soon as we arrived home I made an appointment and went and saw the GP. She immediately referred me up to the hospital because of my low oxygen saturation levels and breathlessness. I ended up being admitted and had every conceivable test done, including a Floc swab (not nice). I was diagnosed with an exacerbated Asthma event and was treated accordingly. You can imagine my (and the medical team's) surprise when my Floc pathology results came back the next day saying that I had Influenza A or Swine Flu. I am a retired nurse and am cognizant of what is going on and in taking preventive health measures and had been diligent in doing so. We both had our Fluvax in April , which is suppose to protect against H1N1 strain - but somehow it didn't.

 

Immediate biohazard precautions were instigated, staff wore gowns, gloves and masks etc and I had to wear a special mask. At no time did I experience high fevers, moist cough (I did have a dry hacking cough which I put down to my Asthma) or feel lousy - only tired - again attributed to my low oxygen levels.

 

I was concerned about the ship and mentioned to the medical staff that Royal Caribbean and Virgin Australia would need to be notified ASAP. They assured me that as it is a regulatory Notifiable Disease that the Commonwealth Public Health Communicable Diseases Department is automatically notified and it is their role to coordinate that process.The main problem with this holiday period everyone is closed, and processes have been delayed.

 

I am now home - past my infectious period and still have a cough, but feeling much better. My husband's results don't come through until tomorrow, although it is expected they will also come back positive, but he is now on antibiotics. We have notified our friends from the ship - some who were sick before we were and have encouraged them to follow through.

 

I have posted this for others to be aware of even the slightest symptoms - although no one could have predicted this. I don't know how many others have been infected - I imagine most people have probably got off the ship and then developed a flu and have not worried about seeking medical assistance. If so, please follow it up. You need a Floc test for confirmation. I'm sure we are only a small piece of the puzzle.

 

Thanks for your post we too are still sick , i thought was bird flu from where ship had been , rather not be a piece of the puzzle . Have Dr appointment tomorrow (booked 5 days ago ) :eek:

Thanks again , Glad you are Feeling better :)

[Miamia65]

Thanks for sharing this, we are cruising on Ovation in February and my daughter has asthma. Not sure if she has had the flu shot so I will make sure she gets it before we go! thanks again!

[lagoon380]

Bad that you got swine flu, but good to that you let people know about it, hope you have a speedy recovery.

The worrying thing is that it's just another case of a vaccine that has failed to do what it was designed to do.

[trishh]

Thanks for sharing this, we are cruising on Ovation in February and my daughter has asthma. Not sure if she has had the flu shot so I will make sure she gets it before we go! thanks again!

 

Hi MiaMia,

since your daughter has asthma she has probably already had the flu shot, but if not it's probably too late to have it. It's usually only available in OZ for a short time prior to flu season, and any later than April and it's too late to have it. If she hasn't had it perhaps she could speak to an innocculation specialist about the best thing to do.

Trish

[cdwh1902]

Thanks for your post we too are still sick , i thought was bird flu from where ship had been , rather not be a piece of the puzzle . Have Dr appointment tomorrow (booked 5 days ago ) :eek:

Thanks again , Glad you are Feeling better :)

 

Hi Peter

 

We can compare stories on the Legend in February!

 

Chris

[Hogbay]

Yes that will be an interesting conversation.. i am also still recovering and very disappointed to have missed so much of my holiday, so looking forward to trying again on the little legend... that is enough of the big ship experience for me!!

jodie

[Aus Traveller]

Bad that you got swine flu, but good to that you let people know about it, hope you have a speedy recovery.

The worrying thing is that it's just another case of a vaccine that has failed to do what it was designed to do.

The OP mentioned that she did not have all the symptoms of swine flu. My understanding of the flu shot is that often it doesn't prevent you from contracting the virus, but it makes the symptoms much, much less severe. Maybe that is what happened here.

 

A few years ago we were on the Grand Princess for 49 nights around South America. We and about half the ship became ill with flu-like symptoms. One of our friends on the ship who is a GP, had a test done on the ship. He was advised he had swine flu. Maybe that is what many (or all) of us had. We had the flu shot about 9 months earlier so we were not as sick as we would have been without having the shot. After taking a couple of courses of antibiotics to try to stop the secondary chest infection, we were both still sick when we got home.

[missbell512]

I too was on the holiday cruise and had a wonderful time. It wasn't until Saturday at noon when I started feeling tired and very achy. Since then I have not been out of bed, except to use the restroom. No vomiting, but extreme diarrhea. I've lost 5 pounds and just now have a little appetite. The worst was the fever. I was very diligent to washy washy, but with a group of that size for such a long trip, i guess the odds are higher. That was my 15th cruise and my first illness. Which to be fair I did have 20 hours of flying over two airlines, so it may have been picked up in air. I wish this on no one. All future cruisers, remember to wash your hands, be careful in the buffets and open doors with paper towels. Prevention!

[bobk0]

Hello: May I please ask if the ship was notified of this? And what the response was? I got extremely ill the night before we debarked but with vomiting and diarrhea. Others in my party had upper respiratory issues. This is concerning. Please advise. Thank you

[cdwh1902]

Hello: May I please ask if the ship was notified of this? And what the response was? I got extremely ill the night before we debarked but with vomiting and diarrhea. Others in my party had upper respiratory issues. This is concerning. Please advise. Thank you

 

I was advised that the official protocols were to be put into place with notification to RCI etc. The issue is that with all the public holidays and reporting systems being slowed I have no idea when they were being notified. No one has contacted me directly either.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Unfortunately viruses like flu and Norovirus are quite common on cruise ships. Well, they are actually quite common in every day life but the closed environment of a cruise ship does tend to mean they spread more easily, and people tend to feel more hard done by when they come down with something nasty when they are on holiday. Also it's easy to know where you picked up the virus if you come down with it several days after the start of the cruise. No-one thinks twice about where they caught the flu at home, it could have been the local supermarket, on public transport, in the workplace - you just don't know. And our daughter's family were always catching gastro bugs, presumably from the school environment. But cruise ships get a lot of bad PR because people catch things onboard.

 

Ships go out of their way to minimize the transmission of viruses, including deep cleansing the ship on embarkation days and sometimes on port days (we had a deep cleanse on a port day on our first cruise). However even after that the virus is often reintroduced by new passengers embarking. Some of them actually may not know they are coming down with the virus as it can take some days for symptoms to appear but the infectious period may start before those symptoms show. Some people think they just have a cold, a tummy upset, perhaps even a "nervous tummy" from excitement. Others, unfortunately, take the attitude that they are going on the cruise regardless.

 

I've come down with bad coughs on some cruises. One may have been triggered by very bad air pollution in Bali - I'm prone to getting bronchitis. Another was probably a flu (despite having had a flu injection) with a secondary bronchial infection. I do my best to keep away from other passengers when I'm ill but it's not always easy especially when you are in an inside cabin. Sometimes you just need some fresh air and a gentle walk, but that can often be achieved without coming in contact with other passengers, by avoiding crowded areas and lifts. Luckily I've never been sick enough to need medical attention onboard. I do carry meds, including antibiotics for bronchitis, with me.

 

All you can do is take all the usual precautions, washing hands thoroughly etc, and try to avoid situations where you could pick up a virus. But most people also want to enjoy their cruise, they want to go to trivia or bingo or the casino, they want to go to the shows, have a drink in the bars, sit around the pool, and so on. You have the choice to take the risk and keep on cruising and possibly come in contact with a virus, or to stay at home. I know what I prefer. ;) :D

[CruiseKat03]

Yes that will be an interesting conversation.. i am also still recovering and very disappointed to have missed so much of my holiday, so looking forward to trying again on the little legend... that is enough of the big ship experience for me!!

jodie

 

Hi Jodie

Mike has recovered but I have it now, no voice and feeling a big jaded...Nothing dramatic but after a week at home It's got me....Hope you are feeling better, back to reality, so good to meet you both.... now where shall we meet half way between Coffs and Gold Coast for a drink? Linda

[Hogbay]

Hi Jodie

Mike has recovered but I have it now, no voice and feeling a big jaded...Nothing dramatic but after a week at home It's got me....Hope you are feeling better, back to reality, so good to meet you both.... now where shall we meet half way between Coffs and Gold Coast for a drink? Linda

 

Hi Linda,

All good now and back to work..i was sorry to have not seen you before we left the ship, so glad to be in touch.

We will be heading your way on 19 Feb as we are sailing on legend on the 20th. My email address is j7kennedy@gmail.com .. maybe we can meet up the night of the 19th.. Jodie

[AMSTEC]

Our family of four were so excited when we boarded the Ovation at Sydney on 15 Dec 2016 for a 15 night cruise. Little did we know that we would all be struck down with Influenza on board the ship.

Our Doctors advised today that the pathology test for our 8 year old daughter returned positive with two strains : Influenza Type A and Para-Influenza Type 2.

 

We completed the cruise returning to Sydney on 30 December and have all been very sick with respiratory distress, fevers, aches and pains and general feeling unwell. These symptoms messed up plans for New Year and family travel.

 

Since returning we have heard from other people that were also on the Ovation at this cruise time and also caught influenza. We heard from one person that they were hospitalised on-board and the Ships Doctor confirmed that several passengers from "Asian origins had presented with cases of severe influenza".

 

Our question is "if the ships medical staff are fully aware that influenza has been detected and that people have been treated on board the ship - then surely its their duty of care to notify other healthy passengers on-board"

If they don't then they are culpable of medical disregard for the health and safety of passengers on board their ship!

 

:(

[aussiecruisers]

Well we were on the 9 Jan Ovation of the Seas cruise to NZ. 4th day into the cruise we contacted Tonsillitis. The pain was so bad we received injections, IV and morphine. To make things worse my husband contacted Influenza A on the second last day of the cruise and I ended up with a secondary respiratory infection as well. We are only recovering now.

Thanks Royal Caribbean :mad:

[MicCanberra]

We were on the NYE cruise and while I did hear some people coughing and such, we managed to get through the cruise without getting ill. Sad to hear so many got ill.

[happysnapper]

Unfortunately even having the flu vaccine doesn't protect from every variant of viral influenza. It has been reported that the effectiveness of the 2016 vaccine was about 60%.

The 2016 vaccine offered was either TIV or QIV, that is, one protects from 3 strains and the other 4 strains.

The 2016 TIV protects from 3 Influenza A (HINI and H3N2 plus influenza B B/Brisbane 2008 type).

While the QIV protects from the above 3 plus B/Phuket 2013 type.

There are some nasty viruses out there.:eek: