Myth: I’m going to become sick from norovirus.
After cruise ship accidents, norovirus is the second most over reported and over hyped incident within the cruise industry. Each year, a few cruise ships seem to experience a minor outbreak of a gastrointestinal bug known as norovirus. While media reports would suggest this bug is only found at sea, which is simply a myth. Norovirus is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in the United States and is responsible for 19-21 million illnesses each year. The bug is usually found in large public places, such as schools, hospitals, restaurants, and cruise ships. Due to strict cleaning policies and compulsory hand sanitizing procedures aboard some cruise ships, passengers aboard a cruise ship have a much lower chance of contracting norovirus. While minor outbreaks still do occur, the chance of these outbreaks occurring at sea are much lower than land. Result: Busted
2 replies on “The Myths of Cruising: Busted”
[…] The Myths of Cruising: Busted. […]
Mike, you’re absolutely right. By reading press reports, you’d think that the norovirus is a cruise ship phenomenon, when in fact you’re more than 10 times more likely to contract it on land than on a ship. Sometimes we just need to fact-check the media.