quote:

The chance of becoming ill on a cruise ship appears to be increasing according to a new study of outbreaks of gastroenteritis reported on vessels calling at US ports.

Acute gastroenteritis outbreaks per 1,000 cruises increased overall from 0.65 in 2001 to 5.46 in 2004 according to a team led by Dr Elaine H Cramer.

Cramer who has published a number of scientific papers on outbreaks of illness on cruise ships acknowledges that the scores being achieved under the vessel sanitation programme of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention averaged 95 out of 100.

So a possibility is reporting of illness has increased as a result of improved laboratory techniques that can positively identify the novoviruses associated with many cruise ship outbreaks.

The study found that the ship inspection scores did not appear to correlate with outbreaks of illness as they remained good although the number of passengers falling ill with gastroenteritis rose from an average of two for each seven day cruise to three during the 2001 to 2004 period.

The Atlanta based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention believe that passengers may be bringing novoviruses aboard cruise vessels and spread disease more easily in the higher risk environment of a ship

Cramer also called on the cruise industry to use cleaning chemicals known to be effective against novoviruses.

The Cramer report on Epidemiology of Gastroenteritis on Cruise Ships 2001–2004 is published in the March edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Cruise vessel sanitation scores can be viewed in the document in the associated media column on the right.