Gastrointestinal Illness on QUEEN VICTORIA

[WantedOnVoyage]

Strictly FYI only

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/over-100-cruise-passengers-sickened-after-gastrointestinal-illness-outbreak

 

Let's hope the report is more up-to-date than the accompanying photos...

[BklynBoy8]

32 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

Strictly FYI only

 

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/over-100-cruise-passengers-sickened-after-gastrointestinal-illness-outbreak

 

Let's hope the report is more up-to-date than the accompanying photos...

 

This is typical Noro Season...

[Wordzz]

And it's now pretty much cleared up, though I think restrictions will remain until San Francisco. They started shortly after we left Fort Lauderdale.

[Host Hattie]

7 hours ago, Wordzz said:

And it's now pretty much cleared up, though I think restrictions will remain until San Francisco. They started shortly after we left Fort Lauderdale.

Thanks for the update, I hope it hasn't affected your cruise too much.

[rog747]

Thankfully the re-emergence of Norovirus on cruise ships and in normal life, has been minimal since the Pandemic,

hopefully in the main, that hand washing/sanitising routines are being kept up by Pax and Crews

(at least one good thing came from it LOL).
Keep on washing your hands and it's kept at bay.   

But as our immunity to it nowadays must be fairly weak then if you are unlucky to get it (it is a nasty GE bug) your symptoms might knock you back...

I'm not a Virologist (obs) but our exposures to these and other bugs in the past 4 years has been miminnal.  

[ace2542]

I wonder who lied to bring that onboard?

[ace2542]

26 minutes ago, rog747 said:

But as our immunity to it nowadays must be fairly weak then if you are unlucky to get it (it is a nasty GE bug) your symptoms might knock you back...

Just take a bunch of immodiu plus for a couple of days and you will be fine. They don't sell that of course to force you to go the medical centre.

[Pushpit]

3 hours ago, ace2542 said:

I wonder who lied to bring that onboard?

If it is Noro (and I've not seen confirmation of this yet) then it's possible to transmit the virus without catching it. Unlike Covid-19 (and despite the thousands of gallons of hand sanitiser deployed at the time), Noro is formite transmitted. So it is very much possible to transmit Norovirus without catching it. It's a much more clever and durable virus than Covid-19, so you can pick up the virus by touching a stair banister, or tongs used in a buffet, then pass it on to someone else via formite (contact). If you then wash your hands before eating (etc), you may then avoid infection. Which is why cruise ships are a favourite haunt of Noro, it just loves to be onboard.

  

3 hours ago, rog747 said:

But as our immunity to it nowadays must be fairly weak then if you are unlucky to get it (it is a nasty GE bug) your symptoms might knock you back...

 

 

Another cunning aspect of Noro is that it generates little or no immunity response. Any immunity is very short lived, hours or low number of days, so it's unfortunately quite possible to catch it twice in a week. And this is where it can be fatal, since if the patient was badly dehydrated first time around, the second time can result in very serious problems.

 

Keep washing your hands folks, soap and water, and don't forget the nooks and crannies.

 

[Wordzz]

4 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Thanks for the update, I hope it hasn't affected your cruise too much.

Thanks Hattie. We are having the time of our lives!

[kf917]

Many of us have been on cruises and familiar with sanitation protocals.  Passengers and crew have short memories when it comes to realizing the need to simply wash hands and use sanitizers.  Until people get serious and understand germs are simply everywhere we will continue to have issues like a recent Cunard situation.  

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, Pushpit said:

If it is Noro (and I've not seen confirmation of this yet) then it's possible to transmit the virus without catching it

More like than not though someone had symptoms and lied on the health declaration form to board the ship.

[Wordzz]

13 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

More like than not though someone had symptoms and lied on the health declaration form to board the ship.

We weren't required to complete a health declaration when boarding in Southampton. 

[sogne]

44 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

More like than not though someone had symptoms and lied on the health declaration form to board the ship.

health declarations have long since discarded for boarding

[WantedOnVoyage]

They seem to have given up the nonsense of these "health declarations"... like anyone who has been ill is going to say "yes, I was sick and I will just go home now".  Please....

 

I remember the old "CANBERRA Virus" so this has been around for 30 years or more on ships.  Had it on BLACK PRINCE and CARONIA and yes, CANBERRA.  And yes, still see otherwise "nice people" who don't wash their hands "after", too.  

 

We sanitise our hands to distraction... and yep, it works.  

[Victoria2]

24 minutes ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

They seem to have given up the nonsense of these "health declarations"... like anyone who has been ill is going to say "yes, I was sick and I will just go home now".  Please....

 

I remember the old "CANBERRA Virus" so this has been around for 30 years or more on ships.  Had it on BLACK PRINCE and CARONIA and yes, CANBERRA.  And yes, still see otherwise "nice people" who don't wash their hands "after", too.  

 

We sanitise our hands to distraction... and yep, it works.  

We sanitise our hands to distraction... and yep, it works. 

 

I don't. I'm the one folk might sneer at as I bypass sanitisers but with eczema as bad as mine there is NO way I'm using the stuff.

We wash our hands many, many times a day, and that works too. That keeps my hands clean and a small refillable tube of hand balm keeps cracked skin from excessive dryness at bay.

[Glenndale]

Wash hands regularly and don’t use the public bathrooms on the ship

[TowandaUK]

I worked on a hospital ward for many years. There were multiple occasions when norovirus was rife on the ward, it is very contagious. I never once caught it. Sanitizers cannot be relied on, but regular washing hands is the way to go. Always a good idea to carry hand cream as if you are washing properly and often your hands will get very dry and sore. 

[Pushpit]

56 minutes ago, Glenndale said:

Wash hands regularly and don’t use the public bathrooms on the ship

So long as you wash your hands properly after use, with soap and water, there isn't really a reason to avoid public bathrooms on board. The point about aseptic hand washing is remove and wash away all pathogens, no matter what the source.

[D&N]

"don’t use the public bathrooms on the ship"

 

I think it's more about not touching surfaces in public areas if it can be avoided.

We try to use elbows, shoulders and knees to push doors rather than touch with hands. When leaving a public bathroom after washing hands and having to pull a handle try and have a paper towel to avoid skin contact.

Of course on staircases it's probably safer to use the handrail.

The other thing is to try and avoid touching your face. We became very disciplined during the pandemic when visiting the gym (if rules allowed it to open). It wasn't really practical to wear a mask during high intensity aerobic exercise so we got in the habit of not putting fingers near faces, we carried an extra towel just for that. 

[WantedOnVoyage]

We also assiduously avoid "lido dining" in all its forms and guises...  I would never want to put one of those communal "serve yourself" utensils under a microscope or the buttons on the coffee machine, either. No thanks. 

 

Oceania Cruises, long before Covid, forbad any self service in their lido restaurants for all the right reasons.  You cannot touch a tong or a spoon, ever... they serve you.

 

I am convinced that the prevalence of these intestinal bugs on cruise ships is precisely down to mass self service food outlets... I don't recall reading newspaper reports of such things on AQUITANIA c. 1930 let alone QE2 in 1969.  

Edited February 2 by WantedOnVoyage

[Victoria2]

As a complete culinary slob, I love pick and mixing foods on the same plate. Sushi, smoked salmon, wasabi, pickled ginger and piies of stir fried noodles? Yum Yum. Can't see that happening up on the Gods 😄 and as a Lido lover, I haven't used existing utensils in the Buffet.for well over a decade.

 

I always take a fresh set of napkin wrapped  cutlery and use them as my utensils.

 

Lido revenge  tummy? What Lido revenge  tummy. 🙂

[tacticalbanjo]

Noro is always going to be a problem on cruise ships not just because there are grubbers who don't wash hands but because if you report symptoms then you are confined to cabin for at least 24 hours after your symptoms resolve. If you are on a shorter itinerary that's probably half your trip spent in your cabin. Or you can keep your mouth shut and carry about your business merrily spreading noro everywhere and causing a big outbreak.

 

Even if you do isolate for the required time you are most likely infection for another 24 hours plus which is why UK protocol forbids gastro afflicted passengers from the buffet for 48 hours after the symptoms stop and recommend that guests stay away from the buffet for another 24 hours after that so 72 hours of room service meals plus the day or two that you are sick.

 

Obviously passengers should isolate but I can certainly see why people don't want to volunteer to ruin their own trips. 

[exlondoner]

58 minutes ago, tacticalbanjo said:

Noro is always going to be a problem on cruise ships not just because there are grubbers who don't wash hands but because if you report symptoms then you are confined to cabin for at least 24 hours after your symptoms resolve. If you are on a shorter itinerary that's probably half your trip spent in your cabin. Or you can keep your mouth shut and carry about your business merrily spreading noro everywhere and causing a big outbreak.

 

Even if you do isolate for the required time you are most likely infection for another 24 hours plus which is why UK protocol forbids gastro afflicted passengers from the buffet for 48 hours after the symptoms stop and recommend that guests stay away from the buffet for another 24 hours after that so 72 hours of room service meals plus the day or two that you are sick.

 

Obviously passengers should isolate but I can certainly see why people don't want to volunteer to ruin their own trips. 

It is possible not to infect others, if you are careful we had an outbreak in the school I taught in, and nearly all the teachers got it. But not one of us passed it on to other people at home.

[Victoria2]

8 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

It is possible not to infect others, if you are careful we had an outbreak in the school I taught in, and nearly all the teachers got it. But not one of us passed it on to other people at home.

Possibly a little TOO much info here, but I instinctively put my hands out when children were 'ill' and let's say, 'I got coated'!

 

Mad hand scrubbing, change of clothes and more hand washing and I didn't catch anything, well nothing apart from the 'ill' bits! 🥴

 

I've caught nits though!!😁

 

[tacticalbanjo]

43 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Possibly a little TOO much info here, but I instinctively put my hands out when children were 'ill' and let's say, 'I got coated'!

 

Mad hand scrubbing, change of clothes and more hand washing and I didn't catch anything, well nothing apart from the 'ill' bits! 🥴

 

I've caught nits though!!😁

 

My toddler caught noro and at nursery in my haste to comfort my poorly child, I caught the 'illness' with my face. Guess who had noro the next day!

 

She's given me gastric bugs three times now. I don't know when I will learn not to offer cuddles while she's afflicted.