Koningsdam - Get your flu shots!

[Little Toot2]

Lots of sick passengers on the February 3rd sailing...

[sevenseasnomad]

Oh, that's too bad.  To have a vacation impacted by illness is tragic.  Was the sickness diagnosed as the flu?  Sometimes, it can be terrible colds, chest congestion, rather than flu.  If flu, that's awful because HA generally carries more senior passengers to whom the flu could prove fatal.  Let's hope everyone gets well quickly.

Edited February 16, 2019 by sevenseasnomad

[canadianbear]

Noro maybe?  Were they doing a deep clean? Never nice getting sick on a cruise.  

[Little Toot2]

Not the Norovirus... Symptoms included sneezing, coughing, and a post nasal drip.  It spread throughout the ship as passengers continued to cough into their hands and then touch everything in sight, spreading the contamination.  Ship staff needs to educate passengers to cough and sneeze into their elbows to contain the spread...

[RuthC]

15 minutes ago, Little Toot2 said:

Symptoms included sneezing, coughing, and a post nasal drip.

Sounds more like a cold than the flu. You can have a flu shot every year and still get a cold.

[FlorenceItaly]

Drives me crazy to see others cough and sneeze into their hands!!!!

[POA1]

The good news is that this year's flu shot was targeted correctly and inoculates against this year's strains. It is the best flu shot in about 4 years. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do get our flu shots every year.  But I still manage to get a cold every year.

 

What you are describing sounds like colds -- no shots for that.

[Little Toot2]

Much more severe than a simple head cold Krazy Kruisers and RuthC...  

[carolyn22]

Both my mother and I had the flu shot in October and both of us got the flu about a month ago - tested out as strain A. Several infectious disease doctors told both of us that this year’s flu shot was only about 45% effective. My mom only had a little fever but a terrible cough and overall aches. I also had the terrible cough (still have traces of it) but had fever of 101-102 for 4 days. 

 

The doctors told us that having the shot does not keep you from getting the flu but it can help lessen the effects of it. Personally, I would hate to think of how much worse it could have been, because what we had knocked us out of commission for weeks. My mom had some other health issues going on so she is still recovering over a month later. 

 

I certainly hope it’s just a cold making the rounds on the ship because the flu was miserable. 

[Shmoo here]

20 minutes ago, carolyn22 said:

Several infectious disease doctors told both of us that this year’s flu shot was only about 45% effective.

Not sure how they can say that.  They can't tell the efficacy until the season's over.  

 

The CDC reports that this season the “majority” of influenza viruses in the Northern Hemisphere are similar to the strains included in this season’s flu vaccine.

So far, 81 percent of the flu specimen samples tested by the CDC turned out to be the milder H1N1 influenza strain. But almost 20 percent of people have still gotten the H3N2 flu, which causes much more severe symptoms.

“This year the circulating strains of influenza virus appear to be well-matched with the vaccine strains,” said Dr. John Sellick, an infectious disease expert and professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo. “But we will not know the ultimate efficacy until the season is over.”

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/flu-shot-is-a-good-match-for-this-years-flu-virus#Vaccine-is-a-good-match-this-season

[RuthC]

39 minutes ago, Little Toot2 said:

Much more severe than a simple head cold Krazy Kruisers and RuthC...  

No one sad anything about a 'head' cold; there are chest colds, too. An upper respiratory infection can be a cold.
If it were influenza, people would be in bed. Flu is serious, and flattens you.

[unclerich]

Carolyn's information is correct - at least as of this point in the flu season.

• February 14, 2019

 

"Overall vaccine effectiveness (VE) for the flu shot is 47% for the current season, with 46% effectiveness against this year's dominant strain, influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, researchers found."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/uritheflu/78030

 

Bottom line - get the vaccine, but always take appropriate personal precautions.

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, carolyn22 said:

The doctors told us that having the shot does not keep you from getting the flu but it can help lessen the effects of it.

I suspect that you might have misunderstood the doctors. From the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm):

 

What are the benefits of flu vaccination?

There are many reasons to get a flu vaccine each year. Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination, and selected scientific studies that support these benefits.

• Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu. [CDC's bolding, not mine.]
  • Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2016-2017, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 5.3 million influenza illnesses, 2.6 million influenza-associated medical visits, and 85,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations...

[SumoCitrus]

Flu shot less than 50% effective this year. If you're not elderly or immune compromised, skip it.

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Little Toot2 said:

Much more severe than a simple head cold Krazy Kruisers and RuthC...  

This chart is helpful in deciding whether it's flu or a cold:

 

Symptom	Cold	Flu
Fever	Rare	Common, high (102°F - 104°F or 39°C - 40°C) Starts suddenly, lasts 3 to 4 days Not everyone with the flu gets a fever
General aches and pains	Sometimes, mild	Common, often severe
Muscle aches	Sometimes, usually mild	Often, can be severe
Feeling tired and weak	Sometimes, mild	Common, may last 2 to 3 weeks or more
Fatigue (extreme tiredness)	Unusual	Common, starts early
Sneezing	Common	Sometimes
Complications	Can lead to sinus congestion or earache	Can lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure, worsen a current chronic respiratory condition, be life-threatening
Chest discomfort and/or coughing	Sometimes, mild to moderate	Common, can become severe

 

[carolyn22]

59 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I suspect that you might have misunderstood the doctors. From the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaccineeffect.htm😞

 

What are the benefits of flu vaccination?

There are many reasons to get a flu vaccine each year. Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination, and selected scientific studies that support these benefits.

• Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu. [CDC's bolding, not mine.]
  • Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2016-2017, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 5.3 million influenza illnesses, 2.6 million influenza-associated medical visits, and 85,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations...

 

No misunderstanding. I was told this by two different infectious disease doctors as well as a GP. 

[Fouremco]

46 minutes ago, SumoCitrus said:

Flu shot less than 50% effective this year. If you're not elderly or immune compromised, skip it.

Better 50% effective protection than 0% IMO. For the little effort needed to get vaccinated, I'd never skip it. 

[Fouremco]

16 minutes ago, carolyn22 said:

 

No misunderstanding. I was told this by two different infectious disease doctors as well as a GP. 

The World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada and myriad other national and international medical bodies say otherwise, but maybe your doctors know something that these organizations have all missed if they are telling you that a flu vaccine can never prevent the flu, only moderate the effects.

[canadianbear]

5 hours ago, Little Toot2 said:

Not the Norovirus... Symptoms included sneezing, coughing, and a post nasal drip.  It spread throughout the ship as passengers continued to cough into their hands and then touch everything in sight, spreading the contamination.  Ship staff needs to educate passengers to cough and sneeze into their elbows to contain the spread...

I call that cruise crud.    I agree in this day & age people should know not to cough in their hands and spread their germs all over.  For people with compromised immune systems it can be difficult avoiding these inconsiderate people other than running the other way!

[Tampa Girl]

5 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Drives me crazy to see others cough and sneeze into their hands!!!!

 

You would rather they just not cover their hands?  It isn't always possible when a sudden cough or sneeze comes on to have a kleenex or a shirt sleeve handy.  And I don't understand why one cannot cover one's mouth with one's hand if one immediately washes said hand.

 

We also had the flu shots before we left on the Grand Asia this past year.  I came down with some strain of the flu five days after leaving Australia.  A mild case but until my fever, which reached 103, dissipated for 36 straight hour, I was quarantined to my cabin.  And to HAL's credit, once the Medical Office restrict people to their cabins, the word goes out to all departments, including Security and Housekeeping.  The room stewards are alerted and told to report anyone they see violating the quarantine.  Security won't let you off the ship; nor will the host country's port agent let you off.  I was impressed by HAL's strenuous attempts to isolate infectious diseases. 

 

That having been said, too many people are wandering around without having reported to the Medical Office.  However, if one is sick with the flu, the chances are good that he/she has sought medical help.

 

 

[fatcat04]

We just got back from the NA and we all have the cruise crud. Drippy nose, dry cough, stuffy head. Ds came down with it first on the last day after we got back from Half Moon Cay. We all had our flu shots months ago. Hate coming home sick but better sick here than on the ship.

[zqvol]

8 hours ago, RuthC said:

Sounds more like a cold than the flu. You can have a flu shot every year and still get a cold.

 

You can have a flu shot every year and still get the flu. Happened to me the past two years.

 

5 hours ago, RuthC said:

No one sad anything about a 'head' cold; there are chest colds, too. An upper respiratory infection can be a cold.
If it were influenza, people would be in bed. Flu is serious, and flattens you.

 

Not necessarily. Both times I had it I just thought it was a cold. It didn't knock me out at all. It can be serious but it doesn't necessarily flatten you.

Edited February 17, 2019 by zqvol

[bennybear]

I think with all the travelling and the different flu season down under that also has an impact on flu.  I got a really bad one off a ship that had just come from Australia in the spring here and the ships doctor knew right away it was influenza.  Some times they are a season ahead and our last flu shot is not current.  I was too sick to move out of my room so the quarantine was not an issue.  

But overall for all the cruising we have done we have been overall healthy.  

But as a former teacher I know the flu shot can definitely work.  

 

[Little Toot2]

15 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

You would rather they just not cover their hands?  It isn't always possible when a sudden cough or sneeze comes on to have a kleenex or a shirt sleeve handy.  And I don't understand why one cannot cover one's mouth with one's hand if one immediately washes said hand.

 

My question to you, Tampa Girl, would be how do you plan to navigate from your current location to an area where you are able to scrub up without touching the elevator button, a hand railing, or the handle to open a restroom door?  Every contact your hand makes with these items spreads germs... just sayin'.