How common is norovirus on cruise ships? Should you be worried?
What is sneaky, super contagious and can easily cause diarrhea and vomiting? If you answered “norovirus”, you are correct. But what is it and why is it often associated with cruises?
There is so much news about norovirus cases on ships that the public has little doubt that cruise ships are dirty or that you are You can get sick if you take a boat trip. I’m here to set the record straight.
Learn why norovirus is unfairly labeled a cruise ship disease, what cruise lines do to minimize onboard spread, and whether you should worry about it during your cruise next process or not.
What is cruise ship norovirus?
Norovirus is the most common virus that causes severe gastrointestinal illness or acute gastroenteritis. Symptoms can include diarrhea and vomiting, as well as abdominal pain, headaches, muscle aches and fever – an unpleasant experience at any time, especially when you are on holiday.
Norovirus is highly contagious and spreads when you touch a contaminated surface and then put your fingers in or near your mouth, such as when eating without washing your hands. It is also frequently spread through contaminated food, sometimes earning the nickname “food poisoning,” although there are many pathogens that can cause foodborne illnesses. You may also hear it referred to collectively as stomach flu or stomach flu, despite the fact that norovirus is not the same as the flu virus.
How is Norovirus spread on cruise ships?
What causes norovirus on cruise ships? Norovirus spreads easily in close quarters, such as those found on cruise ships. Although it can spread from person-to-person contact, on ships it is most often spread when passengers do not wash their hands after contact with frequently touched areas, such as handrails, buttons elevator and serving utensils for buffet meals on board.
Infected passengers who don’t wash their hands after coughing, sneezing, or using the restroom are what caused those surfaces to become contaminated in the first place. To avoid spreading your own germs and getting other people’s germs, wash your hands often, especially before eating, for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water, making sure to rub around your fingernails. and between the fingers.
Contaminated food is also a cause, but it is uncommon on ships, where staff are meticulously trained to follow health and safety guidelines. The standards are enforced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (See the next section for more.)
What do cruise ships do to prevent norovirus outbreaks on board?
Cruise lines employ dedicated teams to keep public areas and frequently touched surfaces clean. The kitchen and service staff receive extensive training in food handling and safety.
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Airlines also screen passengers for signs of illness upon boarding. They ask passengers who feel sick during a cruise to report symptoms to a medical center and self-isolate in their cabin.
On ships with outbreaks, the crew thoroughly cleans the ship after passengers disembark and before the next cruise begins. In the event of a particularly severe outbreak, further trips may be canceled to allow for more thorough cleaning.
Besides, CDC Vessel Sanitation Programimplemented in the 1970s, required all passenger ships carrying 13 or more people to undergo random, unannounced inspections if they wanted to call at U.S. ports
As part of the program, ships are required to adhere to strict health and safety protocols, regulating everything from cleaning of frequently touched areas to how food is stored in freezers, refrigerators and stoves.
VSP inspector boarded the ship and Conduct a thorough inspection to ensure compliance — and very high standards. Scores below 86/100 are considered failing. You can find a list of the most recent inspection points and a list of violations for each vessel above VSP website.
Should you be worried about catching norovirus on a cruise ship?
The short answer is no. Cruise ships are responsible for some of the smallest norovirus cases each year in the United States. Most cases develop in restaurants, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
However, you are more likely to hear about outbreaks on ships because ships are required to report cases while other units are not.
“Health officials monitor illness on cruise ships,” the CDC said. VSP norovirus FAQ page. “So outbreaks are detected and reported more quickly on cruise ships than on land.”
in one Studying cases of acute gastroenteritis From 2006 to 2019 (before the cruise industry shut down due to COVID-19), the CDC found that the number of infections on ships decreased over those 14 years. The agency also noted that case numbers tend to be higher on larger ships and on cruises lasting a week or longer.
“The incidence of…illness on cruise ships decreased between 2006 and 2019 among passengers and crew,” the report said. That’s good news for cruisers.
During that period, approximately 127 million passengers traveled on 252 cruise ships under VSP jurisdiction. Of those 127 million cruise ships, 26,450 people reported having symptoms of gastrointestinal illness while on board. It sounds like a big number but it accounted for only 0.02% (two hundredths of 1%) of cruisers during those 14 years, with the total number of cases falling from 4,507 cases in 2006 to 1,201 cases. combined in 2019.
If you want to check information about the outbreak, you can find a detailed list of ships that have had outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (many of which were caused by norovirus), listed by year , about half a month ago. CDC outbreak page.
For more details on how to keep yourself healthy on a plane, visit TPG’s story above How to avoid getting sick on a cruise.
Why is there so much news about the cruise virus in the news?
The simple answer is that cruise ships must report cases of acute gastroenteritis to the CDC, even if the numbers are low. In contrast, other entities do not.
Specifically, each cruise ship’s medical staff must submit a report on the number of sick passengers within 24 to 36 hours of the ship docking in the US from a foreign port, even if there are no cases of illness. about the digestive tract. They must also submit a report if 2% or more of the passengers and crew are sick and the ship is scheduled to arrive at a US port within 15 days. If the number reaches 3% or higher, cases must be reported to CDC even if the ship is not scheduled to enter a U.S. port within the next 15 days.
That means norovirus data on cruise ships is more readily available than on other entities. It’s easy to make norovirus case numbers sound alarming, but context matters. For example, 100 cases on a ship may seem like a lot, but on a ship like the Oasis of the Seas, which carries more than 5,400 passengers, 100 cases represent only about 2% of the ship’s population.
Bottom line
Should you worry about catching norovirus or another gastrointestinal illness while traveling? The CDC says cruises account for some of the lowest annual case numbers in the United States.
The chances of you being confined to your room and hunched over the toilet for a week are very small when you’re on a boat, especially if you take common-sense precautions like washing your hands and not sharing drinks and utensils. and other items that easily spread germs.
Have more questions about the itinerary? TPG has the answer:
