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Norovirus
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What are noroviruses?

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the "stomach flu," or gastroenteritis (GAS-tro-en-ter-I-tis), in people. The term norovirus was recently approved as the official name for this group of viruses. Several other names have been used for noroviruses, including:

  • Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs)
  • caliciviruses (because they belong to the virus family Caliciviridae)
  • small round structured viruses.

Viruses are very different from bacteria and parasites, some of which can cause illnesses similar to norovirus infection. Like all viral infections, noroviruses are not affected by treatment with antibiotics, and cannot grow outside of a person's body.

Often in the news, we recently have seen cruise ships infectious diseases resulting in cruise ship litigation. Especially, those involving Princess Cruise lawsuits. Sometimes we even hear about cruise ship rape and murder, or even disappearance from a cruise ship. But if recent concern is the widespread virus outbreaks. Are all these claims media sensation, or are cruise ships putting profits over people? Are cruise ships failing to clean and disinfect ships after a norovirus outbreak? Where can you find a qualified California cruise ship lawyer to sue for a mysterious illness? 

The Evidence Shows That More and More People Get Sick on Cruise Ships 
Princess cruise ships must be filed in California. Preferably, you need to retain a Los Angeles Personal injury attorney who litigates cruise ship cases. This is because normally a cruise ship illness becomes gastro intestinal in nature. The symptoms usually involve low grade fever, vomiting blood, nausea, dizziness, stomach cramps and diarrhea. One reason could be from the close proximity the passengers are in relation to one another. 

Other reasons could be due to the failure to properly disinfect the cruise ship when the previous cruise resulted in an outbreak of Norovirus, a highly infectious disease. Noroviruses can be spread by people, and often from those who have had human or animal waste put in their mouth. This could be from unwashed food, bad water, like Mexican water for example, or from person to person contact like homosexuals who engage in anal and oral sex, which is a known cause of AIDS and other diseases caused by sexual behaviour. 

Also on a cruise ship there is usually only one doctor and sick bay. This means every infected person goes to the same clinic. This cam cause the disease to spread faster as well. All of the people suffering from this cruise ship illness go to the same doctor, who may or may not end up helping the illness to spread. 

The upside for most passengers is that cruise ship Norovirus typically spreads and ends within 24 to 60 hours. Also, most people make a full recovery from cruise ship infectious diseases. This is called Cruise illness by most and there are many ways to avoid contracting it, like not going on a cruise at all. 

Other Methods of Avoiding Cruise Ship Norovirus
One, wash hands and sexual organs if you are a homosexual and avoid kissing your partner’s anus.
 
Two, try not to shake hands with other passengers. If you like to shake hands, use disinfectant right afterwards
Three, disinfect your cabin, your curtains, carpet, bed and furniture to be safe.
Four, bring a first aid kit that has medicine, which will assist you if you catch Norovirus on board a cruise ship, like things for stomach flu, such as antacid, diarrhea meds, etc.
 


If you get cruise ship virus, get a diagnosis from the on-board physician. The law also says if more than 3% of the ship gets sick, (Including passengers and employees) the cruise ship has a duty to report the outbreak to the Centre For Disease Control (CDC). You can even look on line at the CDC website to see who has the most disease ridden cruise ships.
 


The CDC checks sanitation of all ships carrying 13 passengers or more from USA to foreign ports and calls. All U.S. Ships are inspected for water sanitation, as well as jacuzzi and swimming pools. They also monitor food contamination and other supplies. The CDC also checks the personal hygiene practices of the ship’s staff and godliness and cleanliness of the cruise vessel. The CDC is also responsible for monitoring cruise ship training programs and health habits, customs and practices. Cruise ships are rated on a 100 point scale. They need to maintain a health score higher than 86 out of 100.
 


If you have were seriously injured by a cruise ship virus like norovirus and you need a quality cruise ship attorney because you want compensation, you must often file a cruise ship claim within a reasonable time from the date of injury. You must immediately contact a Los Angeles personal injury attorney if your were injured on board a Princess Cruise Ship.
 

  

Original Author

Healthocrates Staff

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Contributing Member

Tim Gorman


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EditText of this page (last edited May 21, 2008)