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H1N1 and the cruise industry
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Ship's Medical Facilities - Courtesy of Vanter Ventures
How is H1N1 affecting the cruise industry? Since the spring of 2009 as part of the embarkation process passengers have been given a short health questionnaire as part of a screening process prior to boarding the ship. The questionnaire asks if you or any member traveling with you have exhibited any flu like symptoms in the last week. Flu like symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, body aches, headache, chills, diarrhea or vomiting. If a passenger has exhibited any of those symptoms a secondary screening is performed and as a protective measure they could be denied boarding. It is important to remember though that according to the CDC, “Even though some severe illnesses and deaths from H1N1 flu have been reported, most cases have been similar to seasonal flu and have not resulted in severe illness.” As of August 2009 there was 209,000 cases of H1N1 reported worldwide resulting in 2,185 deaths, giving the illness a very low mortality rate of 1%. Put that into perspective by comparing it to the Avian flu outbreak of 2006 in Asia, which had an 80% mortality rate in Indonesia alone.
At this time the cruise industry is going beyond what regulations require, other modes of transportation such as the airlines are not screening passengers or disinfecting planes between flights. The cruise industry has worked closely with the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Health Canada, and various other entities to ensure its H1N1 policies are updated and appropriate to the threat level. H1N1 is a concern because it is relatively new, easily transmitted and people do not build up immunity quickly. Although there are concerns the virus is killed easily by routine sanitation procedures on the ships and there are effective means of antiviral treatments such as Tamiflu and Relenza. Now there is also a vaccine, which is becoming available in the U.S. in the next few months. Once onboard passengers can take common sense measures such as covering their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, using hand sanitizer after coming in contact with public areas such as bathrooms, elevators and stair rails, wiping surfaces and telephones with antiseptic wipes prior to using them, etc. With a few simple preventative measures cruising is still one of the safest ways to vacation.
Source: Michael Crye, Cruise Industry Facts, CLIA
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