In February 2010, the Celebrity Mercury cruise boat departed from Charleston, S.C.. Even the 1,800-plus passengers on the board were excited about a fun-filled vacation in the sunny Caribbean. Instead, more than 400 of these spent their vacation in their cabin bathrooms, plagued by intense stomach pains, vomiting, and diarrhea. The next year, more than 1,300 passengers on 14 cruise ships were inoculated using the same gastrointestinal problems.
The illness that’s often described as the “cruise vessel illness” is norovirus–a group of viruses which infect the gut and intestines. Although norovirus has earned a reputation as a cruise-wrecker, it does not just strike. It can spread through which you share food or a confined space with a bunch of individuals, including restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, along with the plane which transports you into your summertime vacation destination.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 15 Americans of all ages will get infected with norovirus each year.
You can grab norovirus by coming into direct contact with someone who’s sick, or pick it up by touching surfaces or even ingesting foods which have been contaminated with the virus. Norovirus also spreads through airborne droplets. Just a tiny bit of norovirus goes quite a ways. It takes a little amount of the virus–only 10 microscopic particles–to make you ill.
If you’ve been subjected to norovirus, it will take a day or two for the symptoms to show. Those trademark signs–which include vomiting, watery diarrhea, and stomach cramps–are due to stomach discomfort, called gastroenteritis. Norovirus is sometimes described as “food poisoning,” that is accurate, although other viruses can also lead to food poisoning.
It’s hard to tell strictly by appearance whether someone has norovirus. Someone can stay infectious for at least three days after fully recovering, so a person can look completely healthy yet still harbor the virus.
Since it is impossible to know where norovirus is yanking, your best defense is to follow a few Straightforward steps whenever you travel, eat, or even talk close quarters with other people:
1. Wash your hands with warm water and soap, or use a supplementary hand sanitizer through the day, particularly before eating and after using the toilet or touching other people or common surfaces.
2. Wash fruits and vegetables and cook meats and other shellfish thoroughly before consuming them. Raw fruits, vegetables, and fish can harbor the norovirus.
3. Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.
4. Should you capture norovirus, remain home until you are feeling better. Don’t prepare food for anyone else until at least three times after you’ve recovered.
Researchers are working on a vaccine that would protect against norovirus, but it is not available just yet. At this time, you can not turn to a medicine cabinet for relief since there are no medications that treat norovirus. Including antibiotics, which only work against bacterial illnesses– viruses.
The perfect way to treat norovirus is to rest until you feel better. Drink plenty of fluids or suck on ice cubes so that you do not get dehydrated. A sports drink or oral rehydration solution will replace the electrolytes you’ve lost through vomiting and nausea.
The terrible thing is that norovirus can set you totally out of pocket. The good news is that the distress should only last for a day or two, and if you are otherwise healthy you should not have any severe, long-term consequences by the virus.
— Harvard Women’s Health Watch
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source http://www.cheap-discount-mexico-cruises.com/whats-cruise-ship-sickness/
