I was speaking with neighbors recently about cruising. They asked what they could do, if anything, to prevent getting norovirus on their upcoming cruise, as it ruined a cruise for their best friends last year.
Norovirus is very contagious. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food, water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, typically leading to stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Despite its contagiousness, and the close confines of cruise ships, while many passengers and/or crew might become infected, typically most passengers don’t become ill. On the March 3, 2013 cruise of the Ruby Princess, 266 of 3,129 passengers came down with norovirus. That’s just 8.5 percent. On the April 8, 2013 sailing of the Celebrity Solstice, just 6.42 percent of the passengers got ill with norovirus. Most cruise ship sailings are norovirus-free.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
“Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the United States. Each year, it causes about 21 million illnesses and contributes to about 70,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths. Norovirus is also the most common cause of foodborne-disease outbreaks in the United States.”
While healthcare facilities are the most common places for norovirus outbreaks, the reason we primarily hear about it on cruise ships is because the cruise industry is the only business required by the CDC to report norovirus outbreaks. Nursing homes and hospitals, the most common locations for the outbreaks, have no such reporting requirement.
Anyone can be sickened by norovirus, even if you’ve had norovirus illness in the past. The illness can be serious, especially for young children and older adults.
Frankly, if you get norovirus while cruising, or anywhere, you’ll know it. In addition to diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain, fever, headache, and general body aches often accompany the illness. Fortunately, most people with norovirus get better in one to three days.
Since it’s a virus, antibiotics aren’t effective to treat the illness.
If you think you’re suffering from norovirus on a cruise, see the ship’s doctor immediately. Diarrhea and vomiting from norovirus will dehydrate you. It’s critical to drink plenty of liquids to replace the fluids you lose due to the illness. If dehydration becomes serious you may require hospitalization and IV treatment.
You can become infected with norovirus by:
• Consuming food or drinks which are contaminated with norovirus
• Touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus, then touching your fingers to your mouth, or
• Having physical contact with someone who is infected with norovirus.
So what can you do to prevent becoming ill with norovirus while cruising?
More than anything else, what passengers can do can be summed up in a single sentence.
Unfortunately, at least in the US, most Americans aren’t in the habit of practicing proper hand hygiene.
In a recent study reported in the Journal of Environmental Health, the authors reported that only 5 percent of people wash their hands for 15 to 20 seconds, which is the amount of time the CDC says you need to kill bacteria in order to prevent the spread of disease.
The study said that Americans generally spend just about 6 seconds washing their hands on average. One in 10 people in the study didn’t wash their hands at all; two in three used soap; and just one in 20 washed their hands for at least 15 seconds.
If you’re trying to prevent becoming infected with norovirus while cruising, or anywhere else, for that matter, that won’t do it.
If you want to help prevent yourself from contracting norovirus while cruising:
• Wash your hands carefully with soap and water, especially after using the toilet/urinal, changing diapers if traveling with an infant, and absolutely always before eating or handling food. (The virus can stay in your stool for 2 weeks or more after you feel better. So, it is important to continue washing your hands often during this time.)
• On cruise ships you’ll find hand sanitizer dispensers strategically located throughout the ship, especially where food is served. Use sanitizer in addition to hand washing, but understand it’s not an adequate substitute for hand washing with soap and water.
• If you, or any member of your travel group becomes sick, make sure they remove their clothes which may have been contaminated with vomit or diarrhea to prevent reinfection, and infecting others. Then have them washed with detergent at the maximum cycle length and machine dried. Handle the soiled clothes with care using rubber or disposable gloves.
After many years working in corporate America as a chemical engineer, executive and eventually CFO of a multinational manufacturer, Ned founded a tech consulting company and later restarted NSL Photography, his photography business. Before entering the corporate world, Ned worked as a Public Health Engineer for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. As a well known corporate, travel and wildlife photographer, Ned travels the world writing about travel and photography, as well as running photography workshops, seminars and photowalks. Visit Ned’s Photography Blog and Galleries.
