Nearly 30 Silverseas cruise passengers fall ill with diarrhea at sea

Table Of Content

• Will travel insurance cover me in case I want to cancel because of fear of illness?
• How to avoid Norovirus on cruise ships?
• Nearly 30 Silverseas cruise passengers fall ill with diarrhea at sea
• Illness outbreaks on cruise ships (annual statistics)
• Horror Outbreak on Cruise Ship Leaves Over 150 Passengers Sick With Virus
• CDC ship illness outbreak investigations
• Outbreaks 2017 reports

At least 28 of the Silver Nova ship’s 633 guests and one of its crew members reported feeling sick during their 16-day voyage from Peru, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The national public health agency in December 2021 issued a warning against taking cruises, even for those who are fully vaccinated, following a significant surge in cases on the ships. To meet the threshold for an investigation, a ship must report COVID cases in more than 0.1 percent of passengers or have had a single crew member test positive in the previous seven days. The cruise ship took action after the outbreak, according to the CDC. It "increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship's outbreak prevention and response plan."

Will travel insurance cover me in case I want to cancel because of fear of illness?

Norovirus cases aboard cruise ships have spiked for the first time in over 10 years, and experts believe more lenient travel restrictions and an increase in cruise passengers following the Covid pandemic are to blame. Shipboard medical service fees vary and are usually set by medical practitioners. In most cruise ship hospitals, some supplies and medications are provided to passengers and crew for free - like aspirin, seasickness pills, small bandages. Passengers sensitive to nausea or motion sickness should consult their doctors for medical recommendations prior to departure. At the cruise ship's Infirmary, and also at Reception Desk is provided (free of charge) Meclizine. Also, motion in midship-located areas (including staterooms) is highly reduced in comparison to forward and aft areas.

How to avoid Norovirus on cruise ships?

It's not about the passengers' health (never been) - it's about the big money that rules our world. Six cruise ships have been ascribed an "Orange" status, meaning there have been reported cases of coronavirus below the threshold for CDC investigation, while another 86 have been designated "Yellow," meaning cases have met the threshold. Of the 101 cruise ships operating in U.S. waters, or seeking to operate in U.S. waters, 92 have "reported cases of COVID-19."

Nearly 30 Silverseas cruise passengers fall ill with diarrhea at sea

Although less common than respiratory and GI illnesses, measles, along with chicken pox and other vaccine-preventable diseases, can circulate on cruise ships. Typically, the infection is treated with antibiotics, Chen says, but the CDC recently issued a warning that antibiotic-resistant strains are circulating in the U.S. Chen isn’t aware of any outbreaks of the resistant varieties on cruise ships, but it’s something to monitor.

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When a single case of norovirus appears on a cruise ship, it can quickly become an outbreak affecting hundreds or even thousands of people. This can happen incredibly quickly due to the confined nature of a cruise ship and the frequency of close interactions among passengers and crew. The virus is commonly spread through direct contact with an infected person, consuming contaminated food or water, or touching surfaces or objects contaminated with the virus. One of the main challenges in containing norovirus is its ability to survive on various surfaces for a significant amount of time, making it easy to pick up unknowingly. Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the “winter vomiting bug,” is a highly contagious virus that causes gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Named after Norwalk, Ohio, where the first outbreak was identified in 1968, norovirus can lead to severe vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, and, in certain cases, even more serious consequences such as severe dehydration.

"It's unfortunate that over the past, almost three weeks, there's been an increase in crew covid cases which accounts for 90% of the reported cases on several ships recently. Guests are also advised to wear a mask and to keep their nose and mouth covered when in shared spaces. The agency also urged anyone vacationing on a cruise ship to be fully vaccinated before traveling and to get a COVID booster dose if eligible.

However, it became "cruise virus" since the decease can also result from intrauterine (contraceptive device), sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, lab exposure, organ/tissue transplantation, breast milk transmission. The 11-deck cruise ship started its journey in Callao-Lima, Peru, on March 31 and is set to end on April 16. Surfaces or objects that are contaminated with norovirus can be cleaned with a high-level disinfectant like bleach, per Ostrosky. ▪ While there is no specific treatment to treat the illness, the CDC recommends drinking lots of water or other drinks, like sports drinks, that don’t have caffeine or alcohol to help avoid dehydration.

Though Norovirus can be passed via contaminated food and water, when it comes to cruise ships it is typically spread through physical contact with ill people or surfaces/objects they may have touched. This includes shaking hands, caring for a sick friend or family member, sharing food or eating from the same utensils, and not washing hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers (the highly transmittable fecal-oral spread). This is one of the most well-known bugs that can foil fun on a ship. Norovirus — marked by diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain — is to blame for more than 90 percent of diarrheal disease outbreaks on cruises, according to the CDC. That said, norovirus outbreaks on ships account for only 1 percent of all such reported cases.

Outbreaks 2017 reports

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Just because many have eased up on Covid-19 precautions doesn’t mean that you should stop washing your hands. If you have stopped washing your hands, please don’t go to any parties, ever. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 123 passengers and 16 crew members have reported being ill during a three-week leg of the voyage as of Thursday. Around 1,800 passengers and 960 crew members are onboard the ship in total.

Though generally moderate, symptoms are often flu-like (in fact, Norovirus is often called the "stomach flu," even though it is not related to influenza). Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps; children often vomit more than adults. The recent surge in Norovirus outbreaks underscores the necessity of vigilance and proper understanding of this issue, both for those planning a dream vacation at sea and for those in the cruise industry itself.

In February 2020, the shipowner cruise company Lindblad Expeditions announced the "Premium Purity" program with a shipwide cleaning system based on ACT CleanCoat technology. The innovative ship cleaning process is based on photocatalytic antibacterial spray that when activated by light kills viruses, bacteria, airborne microbes, mould. The disinfecting product and technology were developed by the Danish company ACT Global AS (Copenhagen). The spray is chemical-free, odourless, transparent and can be applied to all surfaces.

This alarming number marks the highest incidence of such outbreaks since 2012 when there were 16 across eight lines over the entire year. As of 2018, hospital ships have Brazil (6), China (5), Russia (6), USA (2), Spain (2), and India-Indonesia-Peru-Vietnam (x1). Seasickness manifests in different ways and is always a result of the body's attempt to correct for the conflicting inputs received from its senses. Common symptoms are cold sweat, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, nausea. When such symptoms are noticed, passengers should take precautions to prevent intensifying the disorientation.