Magic Does it Again

[Sarangel]

Disney Cruise Line said Monday that several dozen travelers and crewmembers on its ship Magic are complaining of a vicious stomach ailment, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported.

Aboard the same oceanliner last week, a similar illness laid low more than 300 people.

That comes in the wake of a series of health problems aboard the cruise ship Amsterdam, which is operated by Holland America Line. On that vessel, more than 500 people have reported severe stomach ailments, stemming from four separate trips.

Investigators believe that in both cases the highly contagious illness was brought on board by a passenger, and wasn't caused by shipboard sanitary problems. Still, the outbreaks draw attention to the system for ship inspections. These two ships passed their most recent health inspections, which are conducted by the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several other ships are still sailing that have failed at least one health inspection this year, including two that failed twice.

In general, ship inspection scores have been rising in recent years as new state-of-the-art ships replace older ones. "The number of outbreaks related to food and water isn't at nearly the rate it was 10 years ago," says David Forney of the CDC. Results are posted at www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp.

Other sources say the number taken ill was 25 this last trip & 275 the trip before.

Sarangel

 

[grinningghost]

Seems like they're jumping the gun on this. It's flu season - on and off cruise ships. The ship is called "Magic", but that doesn't mean that you are "magically" immune to all sicknesses. 25 people isn't many on a ship with that many passengers.

 

[EUROPA]

Its up to 85 now...

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TRAVEL/11/26/disney.sick.cruise/index.html

 

[Bob O]

Will it now be excused because only 75 people are sick???? Would the people who find this acceptable feel the same if it was carnival???

 

[roymccoy]

Can't rule out mass hysteria and the power of suggestion. People can become ill just by thinking that they can become ill. Remember a few years back when all of those doctors and nurses "contracted" that mysterious disease when they were treating that woman in Los Angeles? It was later determined that it was a case of mass hysteria. Nothing in the woman's blood or body could explain any illness. There was even a nurse who cloaimed that she was so debilitated by the "disease" that she couldn't work anymore.

I'm not saying that there aren't real cases of flu and stomach viruses but I bet at least some of them are false.

Roy

 

[EUROPA]

Why are posters here questioning the CDC again ?? I'm so confused as to that point.

 

[roymccoy]

The CDC has found food poisoning and viruses aboard all of the ships that have recently had problems. They say that they are most likely brought aboard by passengers. I'm saying that not all the cases have to be caused by this, some could be caused by the power of suggestion. If a person hears that there is a potential medical problem onboard ship and then witnesses people getting sick, it is a proven fact that a certain number of people will start to complain about those same symptoms. That could explain the high number of people "affected."

Roy

 

[EUROPA]

Didn't know the power of suggestion could give you diarrhea.

 

[EUROPA]

They've cancled the next launch...

http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-181043820021127-141106.html

 

[Bob O]

Ditto's to Europa!!!! Maybe its a government sponsored mind control paln that gives people the runs!!!

 

[roymccoy]

The power of suggestion can not only give you diarrhea it can cause hives, respitory problems, heart palpitations, shock, etc. If people have some sort of a "panic attack" from thinking that they have been exposed to something dangerous, that can most definitely cause diarrhea, sweats, tiredness, etc. Also, if one person sees another person actually being sick (vomit, bowels, etc) this can cause that person to feel sick. This kind of thing happens a lot and it wouldn't surprise me at all if it is happening here to a certain extent. "Mass hysteria" is a common finding after these things have been researched. The media jumps on the headline "Disney Magic poisons 80 people" but they very rarely ever even make a reference to the final report. Maybe it's because that report doesn't come out for awhile and it isn't as sensational but 9 times out of ten, these types of outbreaks are limited to a very small number of people at the core and all the rest are "sympathy" symptoms. Remember the e-colli outbreak that Jack-in-the-Box had a few years back? The paper reported that 6 people had died and over 400 people were sick from eating the tainted meat. In the end, only 2 of the deaths could be attributed to e-colli and none of the 400 people complaining of upset stomach were found to have e-colli in their systems. Did the paper put these findings on page one as they did the accusations?! Nope, the story was buried and barely mentioned on the nightly news. I bet that the final report on the Disney Magic will show a very small group of people actually got sick from whatever source it turns up being and the rest will be not related.

Roy

I'm not an expert on this but my sister is. She wrote a paper in college on the Jack-in-the-Box story and the lady in the operating room story.

 

[Bob O]

Apparently disney believes it is far more than the power of suggestion or they wouldnt have canceled the cruise and will lose all the money they will as a result of this.
And my wife and family members have gotten the runs but the power of it has never affected me!!

 

[roymccoy]

LOL, Bob!

Roy

 

[raidermatt]

I refuse to get involved in this crap.

 

[roymccoy]

No pun intended Matt?

Roy

 

[raidermatt]

 

[ohanafamily]

Hey, I just posted this in another thread, Here is are links to the discussions of the cruise boards on this subjects...
I have been looking in the Cruise Line Forum, and there are some reports from people on the cruises...

Sad story for the ones on the cancelled cruise...
Lots of flaming towards the end of these threads, and lots of posts... a good read if you are stuck at home with nothing to do on the weekend.....

Magic 11/16/02 Illness - THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN POST ABOUT THIS INCIDENT
(This is closed from last week cruise)

IMPORTANT - 11/30 MAGIC CRUISE HAS BEEN CANCELLED (11/30 Cruisers Discuss Here)

Happy Turkey To All!!!!!!!!!