Noro and travel. What can I do?

[nw6675]

Edited to add - Beyond that, I guess I’d start drinking grape juice - I’ve heard it’s supposed to help ward off stomach viruses.

Not to derail and somewhat still on topic, I agree on the juice. I just had major abdominal surgery and had to drink 100% no sugar added white grape juice the night before and morning of - they said studies show it promotes healing and helps with the anxiety.

Worth a try if you decide to go!

 

[mumto3girls]

From my perspective, it's not safe. She can't even get out of bed today. It will be a challenging 8 mile hike on Saturday in the heat.

So she’s thinking that even though she can’t get out of bed on Thursday, by Saturday she’ll be good to go on an 8 mile hike in the heat? I’d probably still be feeling faint in the shower on Saturday. She is either an athlete with incredible endurance and stamina or seriously misguided. I would not want to be on this trip with her. Probably still contagious and possibly still symptomatic. who wants to have noro virus symptoms on vacation in a group, with strenuous activity and no indoor plumbing? No way, not me.

 

[starry_solo]

Call whomever is organizing this trip and report that she has a contagious disease.
Then cancel

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Do you know for sure it's diagnosed norovirus, and not some other type of stomach bug, and/or maybe even food poisoning? If it's not actually noro, it may not be quite as contagious. (But I wouldn't like it anyway). I know there have been some documented cases in the last few years where norovirus spread like crazy through people doing multi-day rafting trips. You might give the tour organizer a heads up. I doubt they want to get in that situation.

In any case, regardless of the contagious question, I doubt it's all that safe for her to be doing strenuous activity in hot temperatures all day so soon after having had stomach issues like that. We had a hospital stay one trip where my little one had a stomach bug and got super dehydrated from it. It was really scary.

Sorry you are in this situation.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Not to derail and somewhat still on topic, I agree on the juice. I just had major abdominal surgery and had to drink 100% no sugar added white grape juice the night before and morning of - they said studies show it promotes healing and helps with the anxiety.

Worth a try if you decide to go!

... adding white grape juice to my grocery list. We have travel coming up too, so anything to keep healthy and less anxious sounds good!

 

[Rogue1677x]

Norovirus is not something to mess with, especially as you said you would need a helicopter if something went wrong.

I got it on my last trip to Morocco and while my now ex-husband was out with his friends, his family was doing everything they could think of to nurse me back to health (through a language barrier no less). I spent the last two weeks of that trip so sick, it was terrible.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Is it rude for me to ask her to call her dr and ask about whether she’s contagious on the trip and the risk of spreading it to other people? I don’t want to be the one to tell her not to go. I’d like for someone else to be the bad guy.

NOPE. Noro is SO contagious, this person is being ridiculous. If they go, do not go, it's a straight up recipe for disaster. Do you know anyone else on the trip? Since this person intends to put everyone's health at risk I would tell everyone. Group disdain might get them to cancel, and if it doesn't everyone else deserves the chance to preserve their health.

 

[Genie+]

Noro is a beast. Totally agree. Both ends at the same time is horrible, and in that location? Hell.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

She is being selfish. If she just came down with symptoms yesterday, and it’s really noro (how does she know?), then she really won’t be in a good place to do such a trip, and it will affect all of you one way or another, whether it’s passing along the germ to the rest of you, or not being able to keep up because she’s feeling bad. Sick? Stay home, pls.

I picked up noro once at work, and man, I felt like I wanted to die for a couple of days.

I remember going to WDW one January when there was a noro outbreak. My kids were just little, and we debated cancelling. But it was the only time my DH could take a vacation, so we went, but I schooled everyone on how Noro was an oral-fecal germ (with some evidence that it can also aerosolize during times of things like toilet flushes), and that, whatever we did, our hands had to be clean before we touched our faces or mouths. We used lots of hand sanitizing wipes. And somehow we never got it. Same with on four Disney cruises during times of noro. So it can be done, but there’s no guarantee (like, I got it at work, from the bathrooms, I’m sure).

It’s a known fact that sharing a bathroom with someone with a GI illness puts others high at risk for catching it, too. Being outside, I think, is a bonus in this case, though, for transmission. Is it possible for you, if you go, to create your own “bathroom”? And eat just your own food supply? At minimum, she should not be touching shared utensils and if possible, use just her own bathroom. But that all just seems ridiculous/not really possible on a trip like this. They should really both opt out this time. Personally I would probably still go even if they go, but I’d half expect we’d be calling a Med Evac at some point in the heat and exertion. Hope her insurance is up to date!

 

[TippyThomas]

I'd cancel and go another time.

 

[lifesavacation]

Do you know for sure it's diagnosed norovirus, and not some other type of stomach bug, and/or maybe even food poisoning? If it's not actually noro, it may not be quite as contagious. (But I wouldn't like it anyway). I know there have been some documented cases in the last few years where norovirus spread like crazy through people doing multi-day rafting trips. You might give the tour organizer a heads up. I doubt they want to get in that situation.

In any case, regardless of the contagious question, I doubt it's all that safe for her to be doing strenuous activity in hot temperatures all day so soon after having had stomach issues like that. We had a hospital stay one trip where my little one had a stomach bug and got super dehydrated from it. It was really scary.

Sorry you are in this situation.

She does not know for sure it is norovirus. Her son had it, his father got it, and she got it. Her son was on visitation with his dad. He came home on day 3 and she got it within 12 hours. She believes it's norovirus given how contagious and sick they've all gotten.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Is it rude for me to ask her to call her dr and ask about whether she’s contagious on the trip and the risk of spreading it to other people? I don’t want to be the one to tell her not to go. I’d like for someone else to be the bad guy.

Give us her info and we will handle it

That is crazy inconsiderate of them to risk bringing it and taking down the rest of you in that kind of environment.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

She does not know for sure it is norovirus. Her son had it, his father got it, and she got it. Her son was on visitation with his dad. He came home on day 3 and she got it within 12 hours. She believes it's norovirus given how contagious and sick they've all gotten.

And she thinks nothing of subjecting all of you to this. Nice.

It's really sad that after all we've been through in this pandemic some people don't seem to grasp the role they play in public health.

 

[_19disnA]

Going on the type of vacation the OP described sounds like a challenge even for someone in excellent health. I would certainly cancel my plans to go if someone else in the group is just recovering from a highly contagious virus and doesn't think there is an issue. The person who had the virus will obviously not be in peak physical health immediately after she gets better. Perhaps she is overestimating her abilities. No one feels their best right after recovery from any medical issue.

 

[lifesavacation]

She is being selfish. If she just came down with symptoms yesterday, and it’s really noro (how does she know?), then she really won’t be in a good place to do such a trip, and it will affect all of you one way or another, whether it’s passing along the germ to the rest of you, or not being able to keep up because she’s feeling bad. Sick? Stay home, pls.

I picked up noro once at work, and man, I felt like I wanted to die for a couple of days.

I remember going to WDW one January when there was a noro outbreak. My kids were just little, and we debated cancelling. But it was the only time my DH could take a vacation, so we went, but I schooled everyone on how Noro was an oral-fecal germ (with some evidence that it can also aerosolize during times of things like toilet flushes), and that, whatever we did, our hands had to be clean before we touched our faces or mouths. We used lots of hand sanitizing wipes. And somehow we never got it. Same with on four Disney cruises during times of noro. So it can be done, but there’s no guarantee (like, I got it at work, from the bathrooms, I’m sure).

It’s a known fact that sharing a bathroom with someone with a GI illness puts others high at risk for catching it, too. Being outside, I think, is a bonus in this case, though, for transmission. Is it possible for you, if you go, to create your own “bathroom”? And eat just your own food supply? At minimum, she should not be touching shared utensils and if possible, use just her own bathroom. But that all just seems ridiculous/not really possible on a trip like this. They should really both opt out this time. Personally I would probably still go even if they go, but I’d half expect we’d be calling a Med Evac at some point in the heat and exertion. Hope her insurance is up to date!

I think it probably is possible for us to create our own bathroom situation.

I've had norovirus and it was awful. There was no way I was doing much of anything 3 days afterwards. I was wiped out.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

How unfortunate that this is a legitimate solution when it's the OTHER people that are sick... We all know from Disney though that sick people will just flipping go

 

[lifesavacation]

They are vacationing together as couples, there is a difference.

There's 11 of us going together. 24 total on the trip. Not that I think it makes a difference, honestly.

ETA: We aren't sharing cars or tents. Just having communal food and camp toilet. Might be in the raft together. There's multiple rafts. I can probably pick a different raft.

I can stay 10 feet away except in the raft.

 

[SteveMouse]

You might ask her to really consider whether she should be going. What kind of prep has been done for the hike? You might ask her what is her plan if she runs into a struggle in keeping pace or can’t go on.

Increasing liquid intake while sick can help with recovery. You might ask her who she thinks is responsible for supplying her with additional liquid if she were to go, and if someone else gets infected, are there sufficient supplies to meet their needs?

Even if there is ground or river water available while rafting, it sounds like there is a significant hike to get there.



It would be fair to share tour concerns with the trip organizer, who, assuming it is not you or her may be in better position to act in the group’s interest and limit her participation.

 

[RoseGold]

It's not rude in this context to ask for an actual doctor's opinion about how contagious the sick person is. This is their responsibility to get this to you.

You have spent a lot of money on this, and you are entitled to this kind of information.

 

[RoseGold]

There's no way the organizers, or whoever is running this "toilet" wants to expose the staff and the other paying guests to this. I would be making a call to whoever is in charge of this "toilet." Maybe even to ask for another toilet, something like that. This needs to be on their radar. It is their responsibility to keep their staff and guests safe.