Article Categories

»	Arts & Entertainment
»	Automotive
»	Business
»	Careers & Jobs
»	Education & Reference
»	Finance
»	Food & Drink
»	Health & Fitness
»	Home & Family
»	Internet & Online Businesses
»	Miscellaneous
»	Self Improvement
»	Shopping
»	Society & News
»	Sports & Recreation
»	Technology
»	Travel & Leisure
»	Writing & Speaking

Reprint Article Code

Category: Articles » Travel & Leisure » Sailing & Cruises » Article » Article Code

Should You Worry About The Norovirus Cruise Ship Illness?

"On the last night/morning, many people were stricken with a gastrointestinal illness that caused diarrhea and vomiting. A great deal of vomit was on the stairs, elevator and other public areas by Friday morning." So a passenger from Canada, on December 30, 2005, sailing on the Zuiderdam in the Holland America Line, reported to the website cruisejunkie.com. Norovirus is a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus where the potential for someone who is sick to infect others exists from the moment they become sick, to at least 3 days after they get better. Disturbingly, some people remain contagious for up to ... read more

Article Title:

Article Body:

Norovirus is a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus where the potential for someone who is sick to infect others exists from the moment they become sick, to at least 3 days after they get better. Disturbingly, some people remain contagious for up to 2 weeks after recovering. This may be a factor in successive cruises becoming infected. And it remains questionable whether sick passengers and crew are confined to their cabins for 3 days after they get better.

Whilst norovirus outbreaks are by no means confined to cruise ships, the nature of a cruise increases the likelihood of an infection spreading. This is similar to the potential for infections spreading in other closed communities like nursing homes. The 'cruise ship virus' can be spread through contaminated food and drink, which is particularly concerning if the crew members who serve or prepare food become sick.

Passengers can pick up the virus from touching infected surfaces like handrails, walls and mirrors. When a suspected norovirus outbreak occurs on a cruise ship, crew will spray disinfectant on all common surfaces, and sick passengers are confined to their staterooms.

Sick passengers and crew have acute symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Some also have stomach cramps, headaches, a low grade fever, and chills. One 21 year old man actually died two days after disembarking from his ship. The cause of death was cited as being complications from a norovirus infection.

This isn't common however. Norovirus infections are usually not significant health risks, though they are highly unpleasant, both for passengers and cruise ship companies. For passengers, what is meant to be a relaxing holiday turns into a retching and wretched nightmare at sea. For cruise companies with ever increasing ship capacities, it is a public relations nightmare.

Author Bio:

Some other recently published sailing & cruises articles

Don't Let Cruise Ship Sickness Spoil Your Vacation! by Dean Caporella
Taking a cruise should be the holiday of a lifetime for many people and usually, it is. However, many people are usually in too good ...

Ferry travel equals smart travel by Martin McAllister
A bit of free time is hard to come by these days. In fact, with work, kids and countless other ...

How To Find A Cheap Cruise On A Budget by Dean Caporella
Today, taking a cheap cruise doesn't mean having to do without certain luxuries associated with cruise ship travel. In fact, these days, the term cheap basically means getting all the optional ...

Disney Cruise Vacation: What Are Your Options? by Jane Brennan
Cruises are becoming more and more popular with families. However, some parents are opting out of cruises for more "traditional" family vacations because ...

The Definitive Guide to Going on the Perfect Cruise – Part Three by Jonnalyn Ajeda
So we're still on a cruise, on our way to some enchanted land. It's a great weather today, and the air is warm, and so are ...

The Definitive Guide to Going on the Perfect Cruise – Part Two by Jonnalyn Ajeda
So we're still on a cruise, on our way to some enchanted land. It's a great weather today, and the air is warm, and so are everyone's smiles. Here's more of what you can expect in a ...

Publisher Guidelines

You may reprint this article electronically in your newsletter or on your website, free of charge.

If you reprint this article from our site, then you must keep everything intact. This includes the articles title, author name, articles body, authors bio / resource box, the links contained within the article, all copyright notices and the link pointing back to our site. All links within the article must also be made active / hyperlinks.