Posted on 12/17/2017 7:49:19 AM PST by BenLurkin
During the five-night cruise, 332 cases of the illness were reported, Owen Torres, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean told CNN in a statement. He stressed that it was a small percentage — 5.99 percent — of the more than 5,000 passengers and crew onboard the ship, Independence of the Seas.
“Those affected by the short-lived illness were treated by our ship’s doctors with over-the-counter medication,” Torres said, “and we hope all our guests feel better quickly.”
It is not known what caused the illness.
“It was just terrifying,” Tracy Flores, a passenger whose 15-year-old son came down with the illness, told CNN affiliate WPLG Saturday. “Just the amount of people that were coming in at the same time with vomiting and diarrhea and just looked ghastly.”
WPLG reported that some passengers who were disembarking Saturday in Port Everglades, Florida, believed the number of passengers who got sick was higher than what Royal Caribbean said.
“We talked to plenty of people who said that they were too sick to even make it down to the (ship’s) medical facility,” passenger Marsha Homuska told CNN affiliate WSVN.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
I’ve always wondered why this doesn’t take out similar closed communities (schools, etc). Why only on the cruise ships?
BenLurkin wrote: “”We don’t know why you’re sick. Go give it to your neighbors.””
More often it’s “I paid a bunch for this cruise, I’m not staying in my room.” But, FWIW, most times the initial case doesn’t come from the cruise line but is brought on board by an embarking passenger. People also lie at embarkation when asked if they have any illnesses. Don’t want to be denied boarding.
Probably norovirus.
They all had the fish.
Thanks BenLurkin. Huh, sounds more like Norwalk Virus. No fun, regardless. Lots of room in the ocean for puke, luckily.
“Why only on the cruise ships?”
Noro and similar viruses are not “tracked” in the USA. There have been several cases where norovirus hits a school and a large number of people get sick. It will get written up in a local paper if noted at all, and rarely makes national news.
A cruise ship, though, involves contracts and money and many people complaining about their vacation being ruined.
For a ship, they pretty much wipe the whole thing with bleach.
ThePatriotsFlag wrote: “I’ve always wondered why this doesn’t take out similar closed communities (schools, etc). Why only on the cruise ships?”
Well, actually it does. This isn’t some obscure illness peculiar to cruise lines. It’s the same stuff your kids bring home from school.
Norovirus Is the Most Common Cause of Gastroenteritis in the U.S. CDC estimates that each year in the United States norovirus causes 19 to 21 million illnesses, 56,000 to 71,000 hospitalizations, and 570 to 800 deaths. Anyone can get infected with norovirus, and you can get it more than once.
Cruise ships are required by law to report instances most other locations do not.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-stomach-bug-norovirus-rips-through-u-s-schools-1485191421
http://www.wcvb.com/article/stomach-virus-closes-north-andover-middle-school/8213006
Thank you, appreciate your response.
Just came back from 7 day cruise on Royal Caribbean’s largest ship, Oasis of the Seas. Had zero problems with anything, including food. This cruise from Port Canaveral was sold out with 6000 passengers! The ice dancing show was so good, we saw it twice. But skipped the ride on the wire rope 10 stories high above floor. All for $1050 plus tips for 2 people.
I ate fish almost everyday (except had to choose chateau Briand for one dinner) on the RCCL cruise last week, on Oasis of the Seas ship, and had zero problems with anything, including food.
Schools and nursing homes see it, too.
With a side order of excrement.
As DBrow stated, it’s not just cruises. It’s quite common and does only make the news when there’s an “outbreak,” typically in a hospital setting, but anywhere enough people with sensitive immune systems are in a group setting.
My research on health is enlightening in this respect, as it’s no longer just those with compromised systems which are susceptible, but broad demographics. Though I’m sure a large percentage of the small segment of the affected group on that ship may be of the prior (elderly, compromised immune systems, etc.) the reason more people don’t catch it is that these bugs have always been out there...people are just more sensitive to them now.
This is an endemic health problem which will never be treated by orthodox medicine’s approach and will only be addressed when the truth behind the rising incidence of evidence to the collective decline of public health in this country is finally made clear (probably not in my lifetime...this is a “control” issue). Even in the absence of my books being published - pardon the cliche’ - the truth is out there...my experience demonstrates that most people simply don’t want to know until they have an impetus to do so (disease, etc...when it’s too late).
Frequency of ailments which are self-treated with OTC medications is a red flag, as are the infections of this group of people (other than the aged...which probably comprised the majority of those affected).
The food on cruise ships is susceptible to the same bacterial contamination that causes "Montezuma's Revenge" throughout central and south America.
The fact that the illness was short lived and treated with antibiotics is evidence that it wasn't a virus.....
My brother-in-law is a doctor here in Michigan and he's originally from Honduras. Our family has taken numerous vacations with him to Honduras. As a precaution, he takes a supply of antibiotic pills that everyone takes when they first start to experience the symptoms of stomach distress or diarrhea. The drug knocks it out immediately.
Ever wonder why the citizens of the south American countries don't get sick? It's because their bodies have built up immunity to the bacteria that causes those symptoms.
Conversely, when relatives of his would come to the U.S. to visit, often they would experience the same symptoms because they weren't immune to the stomach bacteria that we are...
Remember that old saying that if you're going to central America "don't drink the water"?. That holds true but unfortunately you can't do anything about the fresh foods that are washed in the water that you're not supposed to drink.....LOL!
Did they have the steak or the fish?
I had the lasagna.
Cases of mass food poisoning became commonplace when GW Bush came along with his illegal alien coddling administration.
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