One student falling ill to the short-living virus, Robbie Curl, freshman at USC, said the symptoms are no worse than "vomiting, stomach cramping, and nausea." But he, along with many other USC students, including his roommate, "have a four or five day weekend" to prevent this virus from infecting more than the approximated 275 that currently have it.

Jackson states that the virus is short-lived, but spreads widely and without discrimination. All residential and cafeterias have been equipped with antibacterial gel as well as hand sanitizing wipes, some even have masks and gloves.

For updates, keep checking KNBC online and NewsRaw.

 http://www.ligocyte.com/norovirus/norovirus.html

As of now the vaccine is being tested and there is no information on when it will be available to the public.  Other than the obvious benefit of not getting the norovirus, there is another benefit,   it’s needle-free.  That’s right!  It’s administered through the nasal passage so those who happen to be needle-phobic and emetophobic won’t mind taking this vaccine, unless of course, any of the side effects to this vaccine include nausea and vomiting.   If that’s the case, then I hope everyone else gets the vaccine so I can’t catch it from them.

To read more about living with emetophobia, go to my other blog at http://fearsandphobias.blogspot.com

Anyway, over the years, maggots have been considered one of the most gross and disgusting forms of life, generally found in rotten meat or dead animals such as roadkill.

We have heard about leech therapy, which has been used for centuries, but now it seems that maggots have been used in the healing process for centuries too and these little creatures have become the next new old thing.

Apparently in the dim dark past they discovered that wounded soldiers who had maggots eating at the rotten flesh on their wounds were more likely to surive than those who didn't.

Now if you asked me to lie in hospital with maggots crawling on my body, I would be horrified and would probably complain to whoever would listen. But it seems that these little larvae secrete an enzyme with very strong healing properties. It's the enzyme that matters. So drug companies like BioPro are now looking at harvesting the enzymes and creating biofunctional textiles which have these enzymes in them, to place on top of wounds, which will have the same effect.

In the past people with wounds that won't heal, sometimes associated with cancer or diabetes have used places like Hyperbaric Chambers which are very high in oxygen to help the body heal itself, but whilst this has had great success, it doesn't always work.

Lately there have been spates (not to be confused with Speights) of cases of Norovirus and other infections that have an immunity to today's antibiotics, such as Penicyllin and when these outbreaks occur in hospitals (and cruise ships), there is a major problem and we go back to my old question of, 'Is Hospital the best place to be when you are sick?'

So now they have discovered that the Maggot Enzyme can fight these nasty bugs, so the race is on to understand the enzymes and then synthesize them so that we don't have to build fly farms.

At least four major outbreaks of highly infectious gastro-intestinal norovirus have been reported throughout in New Zealand's south Island. In two Dunedin hospitals about 100 people have been affected. In Otago at least 47 patients and 79 medical staff have been infected by the virus since August 1. In Greymouth another outbreak in a rest home has been comfirmed by the health officials. About 50 percent of the residents and medical staff have caught the viral sickness.

It's not known how many peopled have been killed since the outbreak started.

Norovirus affects people of all ages. The viruses are transmitted by food or water which is contaminated with feces and by person-to-person contact.

The disease is characterized by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. General lethargy, weakness, muscle aches, headache, and fever. Symptoms may persist for several days and may become life-threatening in the young, the elderly, and the immune-compromised. (Read more).

New Zealand food and personal hygiene is one of the worst in the world.

Related Links:

• How Dangerous is New Zealand for visitors, Asians, women, children?
• Previous Health warnings (since Feb 6, 2008 )

• Urgent Health Warning: Outbreak of Norovirus in New Zealand (June 18, 2008 )
  

• Truth About ‘100% Pure New Zealand’
• The Poisoning of New Zealand
• Hermaphrodite Lamb Born With Seven Legs
• Toxic Sludge
• Toxic Country – Diseased Food
• 1080
• NZ indiscriminate aerial applications of the potent poison 1080

It's only a couple of months since the gastric illness swept through Gore Hospital and other hopsitals, resthomes and schools have also had outbreaks.

Southland principals say one of the reasons the infection spreads is that people don't stay at home when they are ill. I wonder if another cause is lowering standards of basic hygiene and an increase in practices which reduce immunity.

My mother was a nurse and when I was a child we weren't allowed to come to the meal table until we had washed our hands - and washed them properly. Now people tend to graze rather than eat meals and from my observations few bother to wash their hands before eating.

But it's not just pre-dining hygiene that's lacking. A New Zealand Food Safety Authority  survey showed that only 7.8% of people followed the 20/20 rule for hand washing after going to the loo - 20 seconds washing with soap and hot water and 20 seconds drying with a clean towel. But worse nearly 10% of women and 20% of men didn't bother washing their hands at all.

Then we have the other extreme where life is too clean.  We use antibacterial cleaning products which may lead to the development of superbugs from the .1% that aren't zapped by the cleaner; children aren't allowed to play in the mud or with animals; and we become so fastidious we're not exposed to germs which help build our immunity.

Maybe we'd be healthier if we  stopped worrying about clean dirt and became more particular about the dirty dirt.

If  Mum was here she'd recommend we get back to the basics of housekeeping with hot, soapy water and elbow grease; wash our hands more thoroughly and more often; and stay at home when we're ill so we keep our bugs to ourselves.

A brief history is in order.  The virus, its actually a bunch of related viruses, got its name after an outbreak in Norwalk, Ohio.  The virus seems most easily transmitted through food and human to human contact.

Contrary to popular opinion, the virus is not unique to cruise ships but is most commonly found in catered meals.  In fact, cruise ships was bunched together with vacation settings and was the smallest percentage of reported outbreaks investigated at 10%.  The idea that there is a "sick ship" syndrome is a creature of an overactive media.  Even if a ship does suffer an outbreak, I've never heard of more than 17% of the total ship population being infected.  In other words, if there are 5,000 passengers and crew on board (not impossible given today's megaships), you're looking at maybe 850 sick people.  Certainly not fun, but it is also not the end of the world.

If you assume that there are approximately 5 outbreaks on all cruise ships per year (which is conservative given the number of reported outbreaks between 1997-2000 identified here) the odds of getting a ship that actually experiences an outbreak are so small to make it hard to count.  For example, Royal Caribbean Cruises have I think 21 ships currently in service.  Most of those are between 7-10 days but there are others that are 3 and 4 days.  If one assumes that the entire fleet makes a total of 30 cruises per year (probably a low number) then you have 630 total voyages just on Royal Caribbean ships.  If you have 5 outbreaks worldwide on all cruiselines per year and even if all those outbreaks were on Royal Caribbean Ships, you still only have a .7% (that is point seven percent) chance of getting on an infected ship.  And that is just one cruise line getting all the outbreaks for an industry that serves approximately 12 million passengers in a year.  In other words, I would think you'd probably have a better shot at getting struck by lightning then contracting the Norovirus on a cruise ship.

My advice to people who are thinking about a cruise and won't do it because of the Norovirus is for them to lighten up and just wash their hands.

My very first airplane ride was during my teenage years. I was incredibly nervous which is normal for most first-time flyers. But I wasn’t afraid of airline safety nor terrorists. I was scared of getting air sick. But since this was a family vacation, I had to go. Chickening out was not an option. And I was fine.

Right before my first cruise I was just as nervous as my first plane ride, maybe worse. I grilled everyone I knew who had been on a cruise about seasickness, including a doctor. The thought of nausea and vomiting from seasickness was so enormous, I started having diarrhea from the anxiety days before going. Again, I was fine.

Since those two “first-time” travel experiences, I’ve been to many places around the globe and have traveled by various forms of transportation. With the exception of an occasional diarrhea, most likely caused from overindulging on fiber supplements to avoid constipation, I have never had any stomach ailment or distress that caused me to vomit. No travelers diarrhea. No Montezuma’s revenge.

Several readers have asked me how I manage to garner up the nerve to travel to places such as Africa or Mexico or any place where food preparation and sanitation is not up to par. My answer is that I’m pretty much used to it by now. By the time emetophobia started controlling my life, I had already traveled extensively. That doesn’t mean I don’t get nervous leaving my hometown. I do, but not enough to prevent me from going. And, I take extra precautions.

Research
When traveling anywhere, especially undeveloped places, I try to understand the environment I’ll be facing. What are the common ailments of that place? Do they have a good standard of sanitation? There are doctors that specialize in travel medicine who given me some very good advice when traveling.

Vaccines and preventative measures
When I went to Tanzania, yellow fever vaccines were required. The thought of getting shots to go somewhere may deter even non-emets from traveling but there is one thing to keep in mind. Only 5% of those getting this vaccination experience mild side effects and none of them are nausea or vomiting.

Same goes with anti-malaria pills. There are several out there but the one I usually take is called Malarone and it’s plant based. No side effects at all.

Diarrhea is a common ailment travelers get and in most cases it does not cause vomiting. However, a mere case of travelers diarrhea would cause most emetophobics to panic so for me – an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In addition to a prescription for Cipro, which I have never had to take, he gave me some advice on preventing diarrhea. I compiled the information he gave me and what some other doctors have recommended and list them below.

* Probiotics are products containing the helpful bacteria that normally inhabit the human digestive tract, usually Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, (sometimes they are collectively called "acidophilus."). Take a probiotic twice a day with meals to prevent travelers diarrhea. (Source: http://www.drweil.com/)

*Always drink bottled beverages including bottled water. Tap water and dairy products should be avoided. Even if the tap water looks clear or clean, never trust that it is free of harmful bacteria. Boiling water and iodine tablets can purify water but iodine may not kill all harmful bacteria.

*Stay well hydrated and limit time in the hot sun.

*Any fruits or vegetables that have come into contact with tap water is not safe to eat. Eat fruits that can be peeled like bananas or oranges. All of the hotels I’ve stayed in Africa catered to Western tourists and all food was cleaned and prepared with bottled water and therefore I never had a problem.

*Never buy food from street vendors or eat any meat or seafood that is undercook. If a local invites you over for a meal I politely turn them down. They say in some cultures it’s insulting to do this but I would rather insult them then ha

*Taking Pepto Bismol 4 times a day helps prevent diarrhea.

*If you do get diarrhea, begin taking Imodium at the first sign. If the diarrhea doesn’t go away after a day, then take Cipro.

*When traveling to underdeveloped countries I usually bring trail mix, granola bars or other meal replacement bars just in case I have very limited options for safe food.

The most important thing is to wash hands frequently with soap and water and bring along hand sanitizer in case you’re out and about and don’t have access to soap and water.

On a previous blog post I wrote about my anti-emetic kit. Regardless of where I’m going I carry a larger version of this kit.

I think my paranoia of getting sick overseas is healthy to some extent. The measures I take to avoid getting sick are better than when I stay home and that’s one less worry to ruin my trip.

I refuse to let emetophobia stop me from doing what I love – traveling.

fearsandphobias.blogspot.com

Google is doing a feature on Marc Chagall today.  Above is the picture "The Blue House" from 1917.

Also, today's a good one for wordsmiths.  Merriam-Webster's word of the day is the German "weltanschauung," which means "a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint."  Here's more from their page concerning the word:

When we first adopted it from German in the mid-19th century, "weltanschauung" referred to a philosophical view or apprehension of the universe, and this sense is still the most widely used. It can also describe a more general ideology or philosophy of life.

In other news, CNN reports that there are a bunch of new words being added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, including:

• edamame
• pescetarian
• prosecco
• soju
• infinity pool
• dirty bomb
• Norovirus
• mondegreen
• Webinar
• netroots

I was going to say: "I'm still waiting for gansta and holla to be added," but apparently they already are.

When you travel, you don't need to be checking out the hospitals or clinics all over the world.  Seen one, seen them all, and most are not as nice as at home.  And trying to find a doctor who speaks English can be challenging.  Staying healthy when you travel is #1 to having a good vacation.  My husband doesn't have a spleen and can go into pneumonia at the drop of a hat.  So, here are some tips that I have found to work. 

• Brookstone has this little filter that you wear around your neck or in your pocket.  I know it works because since we have been using it on planes, we haven't gotten sick.  Proof enough.
• Spray your nose with nasal spray before boarding the plane.  Acts as a block to germs.
• Take hand wipes to wipe down the food tray.  Must be the dirtiest thing on the plane.
• Take hand sanitizer and use it frequestly.  The one that does the most good is Soapopular.  Doesn't dry out your skin or have an offensive odor. Take your own pillow for sleeping on red eye flights.  I cut an old down pillow in half and roll it up into a plastic vacuum bag putting it in my carryon.
• Wash your hands in warm soap and water often.
• When going to 3rd World Countries, take your own syringes incase you need to get a shot.  Carry them in a paper towel tube with the ends taped shut.
• Get as much rest as you possibly can.   When you are tired you pick up stuff more easily.
• I wouldn't even have a problem wearing a mask if I am in a motorcoach and people are coughing and sneezing.  That can spread very fast.

Now to address the Norovirus.  There is a lot in the papers about this on cruise ships.  Well, it has to be reported because those ships are registered in foreign ports and the cruise lines have to report sicknesses when they come into the US.  HOWEVER, it is not just on ships.  It is in hotels, schools and any public places.  I have had clients get it BEFORE they even got to the cruise.  Sometimes people are sick when they board and they think they will get well in a day or so and in the meantime they have infected 50 people.  The cruise lines are watching people very close and if they suspect the passengers are sick, they will quarantine them. 

My last point is the MOST IMPORTANT.  BUY TRAVEL INSURANCE!!!.  The cost is small, but the benefits are HUGE.  Buy it on my web site www.cruiseandtourplanners.com or call me.  Just this past week we heard of a lady who fell down in Italy and cracked her head.  Her family is trying to raise $100,000 to bring her home.  How sad.  I have another client who has cancelled 3 trips because of medical issues and got her money back - she is young.  Then there is the young college studen surfing in Costa Rica who broke his neck and needed $500,000 to come home.  Age has nothing to do with it.  I could tell lots of stories.  DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT INSURANCE!!!

So, mathematically, you're far safer eating tomatoes than camping!

New Zealand: KEEP OUT!

An outbreak of norovirus in New Plymouth, New zealand, has killed at least one person in a rest home. More than 100 cases of noroviros infection have been reported recetly, a medical health officer said.

Norovirus affects people of all ages. The viruses are transmitted by faecally contaminated food or water and by person-to-person contact.

The disease is characterized by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. General lethargy, weakness, muscle aches, headache, and fever. Symptoms may persist for several days and may become life-threatening in the young, the elderly, and the immune-compromised. (Read more).

News Links:

• Rest home resident dies after bug outbreak

• High levels of dangerous bacterium in Kaikohe
• Baby died after infection breakout
• Stuff New Zealand

BACKGROUND: Noroviruses are the leading cause of viral acute gastroenteritis in humans, noted for causing epidemic outbreaks in communities, the military, cruise ships, hospitals, and assisted living communities (Lindesmith et al., 2008). The noroviruses most commonly associated with outbreaks of gastroenteritis are genogroup II genotype 4 (GII-4) strains (Allen et al., 2008). The evolutionary mechanisms governing the persistence and emergence of new norovirus strains in human populations are unknown (Lindesmith et al., 2008). Many national, state, and local health departments are launching disease surveillance systems with daily analyses of hospital emergency department visits, ambulance dispatch calls, or pharmacy sales for which population-at-risk information is unavailable or irrelevant (Kulldorf et al., 2005).

RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the surface-exposed carbohydrate ligand binding domain in the norovirus capsid is under heavy immune selection and likely evolves by antigenic drift in the face of human herd immunity (Lindesmith et al., 2008). Our data identifies two sites in this region, which show significant amino acid substitutions associated with the appearance of variant strains responsible for epidemics with major public health impact (Allen et al., 2008). Variation in the capsid carbohydrate-binding domain is tolerated because of the large repertoire of similar, yet distinct HBGA carbohydrate receptors available on mucosal surfaces that could interface with the remodeled architecture of the capsid ligand-binding pocket (Lindesmith et al., 2008). Homology modelling studies revealed the exposed nature of these sites on the capsid surface, providing supportive structural data that these two sites are likely to be associated with putative variant-specific epitopes (Allen et al., 2008). The continuing evolution of new replacement strains suggests that, as with influenza viruses, vaccines could be targeted that protect against norovirus infections, and that continued epidemiologic surveillance and reformulations of norovirus vaccines will be essential in the control of future outbreaks (Lindesmith et al., 2008). ((instead of vaccines)) We propose a prospective space-time permutation scan statistic for the early detection of disease outbreaks that uses only case numbers, with no need for population-at-risk data (Kulldorf et al., 2005). It makes minimal assumptions about the time, geographical location, or size of the outbreak, and it adjusts for natural purely spatial and purely temporal variation. The new method was evaluated using daily analyses of hospital emergency department visits in New York City (Kulldorf et al., 2005). Four of the five strongest signals were likely local precursors to citywide outbreaks due to rotavirus, norovirus, and influenza (Kulldorf et al., 2005).

[material reproduced following the PLoS Creative Commons license]

Lindesmith LC, Donaldson EF, Lobue AD, Cannon JL, Zheng DP, Vinje J, Baric RS. Mechanisms of GII.4 norovirus persistence in human populations. PLoS Med. 2008 Feb;5(2):e31. (article; response)

Allen DJ, Gray JJ, Gallimore CI, Xerry J, Iturriza-Gómara M. Analysis of amino acid variation in the P2 domain of the GII-4 norovirus VP1 protein reveals putative variant-specific epitopes. PLoS ONE. 2008 Jan 23;3(1):e1485. (article; response)

Kulldorff M, Heffernan R, Hartman J, Assunção R, Mostashari F. A space-time permutation scan statistic for disease outbreak detection. PLoS Med. 2005 Mar;2(3):e59. (article; response)

for more on this topic:

• Marler Clark attorney (blog)
• CDC norovirus outbreaks 2006-2007 (link)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (link)
• Wikipedia on Noroviruses (link)
• International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) (link)

Let’s start with the two most obvious foods: Ginger and Peppermint.

Ginger is an ancient remedy for nausea, gas and indigestion. Scientific studies have shown its effective for motion sickness, morning sickness, chemotherapy, and following surgery. A big plus about ginger is that it’s easy to get and inexpensive.

I keep ginger tea in my pantry, ginger capsules in my medicine cabinet, ginger chews in the candy canister, and fresh ginger in my kitchen for cooking. Ginger chews are available in major health food stores or at this web site www.gingerpeople.com.

Ginger is also said to help inflammation and have anti-cancer effects.

Links to sites about the medicinal qualities of ginger:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Ginger.asp?sitearea=ETO

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/REM00012

Peppermint relieves indigestion by calming the muscles of the stomach and improves the flow of bile, which the body uses to digest fats. As a result, food passes through the stomach more quickly. It relaxes the muscles that allow the body to relieve gas and enteric-coated peppermint capsules help with irritable bowel syndrome.

Scientific evidence shows peppermint was found to treat nausea after surgery and relieve menstrual cramps. But here’s the best part, Peppermint oil has exhibited antiviral properties against a number of infectious agents, including herpes. I’m not sure if norovirus is one of these viruses but it still sounds encouraging. In addition, peppermint helps chest congestion from that nasty cold and headaches.

Peppermint oil is the most effective for nausea but peppermint tea, and mint candy are suitable for a small stomach upset due to overeating or bloating.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/peppermint-000269.htm