Zika Virus Warnings

[JJsmama]

This is interesting regarding future pregnancies. It is good news, IMHO. Thus, taking care to Avoid becoming pregnant immediately before or during travel to these places is an option to women of child bearing years, but not currently pregnant...

From CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/zika/pregnancy/question-answers.html

If a woman who is not pregnant is bitten by a mosquito and infected with Zika virus, will her future pregnancies be at risk?
We do not know the risk to the infant if a woman is infected with Zika virus while she is pregnant. Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for only a few days to a week. The virus will not cause infections in an infant that is conceived after the virus is cleared from the blood. There is currently no evidence that Zika virus infection poses a risk of birth defects in future pregnancies. A women contemplating pregnancy, who has recently recovered from Zika virus infection, should consult her healthcare provider after recovering.

 

[DiannaVM]

Sigh. We are scheduled for the March 6 Magic (Castaway Cay and Nassau). I have also been trying desperately to get pregnant with out second for a looooong time. If I were to get pregnant this month or next, I am fairly confident that we would either reschedule or I would stay on the ship and let my husband take my daughter on all the excursions that I planned out. Which would make me incredibly sad.

Just as a note, they haven't announced any cases here in the Bahamas and as of Wednesday the government has announced the precautions they are taking to avoid it, including fogging which is something they usually do every year during peak mosquito season or when it needed as a health precaution (they did this during the dengue outbreak several times). That still doesn't make me feel any better though and I am sure it doesn't do much to comfort you guys either. As a matter of fact, although not pregnant yet, my husband and I have talked about trying in the near future and now all of this nonsense is making me uneasy.

I am trying not to panic since like I said its not here yet, and there is no real statistics as to what the rate of microcephaly babies to Zika-infected mothers really is but seeing that we plan on getting pregnant soon I rather not take my chances. His family was talking about taking a trip to one of the out islands in March and all I could think of was "I dont want to put myself at risk so I rather not go to mosquito country" lol. But seriously, here in the city of Nassau you get mosquitos but trust me when I say you dont experience the real things until you go to an out island. Its insane. I would probably be weary of Castaway Cay (although I've never been).

 

[richjive]

We were scheduled for the 1/31 Southern Caribbean cruise, but with all the warnings and updates on Zika, we have cancelled our trip. We are trying to get pregnant and my wife's OB\GYN has advised us to avoid travel into any Zika marked territories. We are in the process of getting everything taken care of with DCL, but regardless of the $$ outcome, we will unfortunately not be on this trip. The airlines understood and we are expecting a full refund on the airfare.

Microcephaly is the name of the disorder which the Zika virus will cause in infants. Google images "microcephaly brazil". Here are some good reads

http://news.discovery.com/human/health/how-zika-virus-affects-unborn-babies-160128.htm
http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/10-essential-facts-about-zika-virus/


Have fun and most importantly stay safe, wherever your travels bring you.

 

[NotUrsula]

We were on the Wonder during the big ebola thing, and here we go again. During the ebola frenzy they did not allow us to take self serve ice cream (a cast member was stationed there serving it), and they made you use hand wipes at the drink station just like when you go into the dining rooms.
At least this can't be transmitted from person to person so there won't be any of that...

Apparently the bolded is untrue, but it does require body-fluid exchange (same situation as AIDS transmission.) In addition, the virus is apparently short-lived, so if you do get it, you're only contagious for a few weeks. http://www.cdc.gov/zika/transmission/index.html

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Just received this email about our March Fantasy sailing...

February 12, 2016

We appreciate you booking a Disney Cruise Line vacation.

As you may be aware, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently issued a travel alert for travelers to specific countries in the Caribbean and Latin America due to the Zika virus, a mosquito related illness.

The precautions recommended by the CDC are similar to those to prevent other mosquito borne illnesses like dengue fever, chikungunya, and West Nile virus and include wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants and using insect repellents containing DEET to avoid mosquito bites. While the most common symptoms are usually mild and include fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye, pregnant women should pay special attention to the travel alert and take necessary precaution to avoid mosquito bites.

Additional information can be found under the Travelers Health section of the CDC website at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices.

Should you have any questions related to your sailing, please feel free to call us at 800-939-2784 or 407-566-7000.

Sincerely,

The Cast and Crew
Disney Cruise Line

 

[seashell82]

This has me debating whether I should cancel my excursions and just hang out on the ship the whole week!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

This has me debating whether I should cancel my excursions and just hang out on the ship the whole week!

Unless things change, our plan is to slather in bug spray and enjoy our vacation!! I would personally likely cancel if I was pregnant or planning on it, though.

 

[Meriweather]

Just received this email about our March Fantasy sailing...

February 12, 2016

We appreciate you booking a Disney Cruise Line vacation.

As you may be aware, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently issued a travel alert for travelers to specific countries in the Caribbean and Latin America due to the Zika virus, a mosquito related illness.

The precautions recommended by the CDC are similar to those to prevent other mosquito borne illnesses like dengue fever, chikungunya, and West Nile virus and include wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants and using insect repellents containing DEET to avoid mosquito bites. While the most common symptoms are usually mild and include fever, rash, joint pain and pink eye, pregnant women should pay special attention to the travel alert and take necessary precaution to avoid mosquito bites.

Additional information can be found under the Travelers Health section of the CDC website at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices.

Should you have any questions related to your sailing, please feel free to call us at 800-939-2784 or 407-566-7000.

Sincerely,

The Cast and Crew
Disney Cruise Line

Got the same email a couple minutes ago.
I will use bug spray, but other than that, I will not be wearing long sleeves or pants in the Caribbean.
But I am not pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

 

[Disneylovingdad]

Just wanted to update you all. Since my wife is pregnant, we did cancel. DCL was great and let us basically do what we want as far as rebooking or getting a refund. We opted to get the refund. Just not worth the risk to us. We will shoot for next May.

 

[corinalynn]

Just wanted to update you all. Since my wife is pregnant, we did cancel. DCL was great and let us basically do what we want as far as rebooking or getting a refund. We opted to get the refund. Just not worth the risk to us. We will shoot for next May.

Hi! Did you have insurance? ? I have a Disney cruisee in 70 days, and just discovered I'm pregnant and they say I have to pay the cancellation penalty of 20%- which for us is 1000. How did you handle it?

 

[Disneylovingdad]

Hi! Did you have insurance? ? I have a Disney cruisee in 70 days, and just discovered I'm pregnant and they say I have to pay the cancellation penalty of 20%- which for us is 1000. How did you handle it?

We did have the insurance.