Be aware if traveling to WDW within the next few days

[dshouse4]

Our family was at Disney in mid September and had the same bug. First my daughter, then my husband, then me. On the way home, our grandson suffered with it. It lasted about 24 hours for us. Missed one each in the parks and was pretty weak the next day.

 

[Soarin08]

My DD did not get the stomach flu but instead spiked a nasty fever on Sat night. It came from nowhere. We went to dinner and then came back to the resort and went to bed. She kept tossing and turning and I felt her and she was on fire. I thankfully had Tylenol with me. We spent the whole day Sunday and half of Monday in the room and the Poly even let us stay in the room until Magical Express came at 2pm and I was thankful.

Now I will tell you, we washed our hands and used antibac gel before every meal. Everytime once in a while we used the antibac gel while in the parks and I also bought bleach wiped and wiped down the tv remote in the room and the door knobs and so forth. I'm a self proclaimed germ freak!

When we did get home I found out from the school that a fever virus was running rampid through the school. So I now wonder if the virus laid dormant for the first 7 days and maybe just finally reared it's ugly head?? I guess I am just thankful it was the second to last day and not the first because it took 5 days for the fever to break and dd just started to really seem 100% better today. We got home a week ago today.

I hope with the school being closed now for holiday break they can irradicate the virus.

My sis used to do that. She'd be ok one minute and spiking 104 degree fevers the next. It was strange.

 

[JenEeyore]

Unfortunately we can be added to the list of illness.

We were on vaca from 12/3-12/7 at BCV and then DCL 12/7-11 and back to BCV 12/11-14. On the ship, there were sanitizing wipes everywhere and handwashing was constantly encouraged. Our friend caught a nasty cold the day at Nassau, but the rest of us stayed totally healthy up to that point. Trouble came the morning we were to check out after the 2nd land portion and head home on the 14th. DS6 woke up at 7 a.m. and started vomiting out of the blue. We had been at DHS the day before and rode TSM several times that night - not sure if that is where the germs got picked up since they don't sanitize that ride in between everyone pulling the cannon strings, or if he got it somewhere else in the park (so many people, so many germs), but he definitely got something! That was the longest travel day ever! Violent vomiting from 7 a.m. onwards. We had to take a DME bus back to the airport, and even ended up having to borrow a wheel chair to make it through the airport to the gate because he couldn't walk very far without having to find a bench or a bag. Lost count of bags we used that day...it was terrible and I felt so bad for him since he was so tired and weak and we couldn't just put him to bed somewhere - we had to keep going to catch flight etc. By that evening he kept a little down for a few hours at home, but overnight and the next morning things were still unsettled. It kept him out of school for 2 additional days after we returned home since the school has a 24 hr policy for such illnesses.

Fortunately us adults somehow never got it. All I can say is wash/sanitize those hands after every attraction before/after every meal etc etc. Even that can't guarantee you won't get it, but every little bit helps.

We had an awesome trip overall, and we were very glad to be home after that long travel day, but I would feel awful for those who catch that monster bug during their stay and have to deal with it away from home. It took most of the week before he was back to "normal" for eating and activities. Fortunately he drank well (even if some of it came back up) so he didn't get dehydrated where we needed to go to an ER.

EVERYONE STAY HEALTHY!!!

 

[wedance6]

Someone threw up in the Grand Floridian lobby on Dec. 8th.....but we were are all fine. This is now making me reconsider a cruise ship, too much recycled air, probably?

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

There is a nasty, nasty stomach bug that is plaguing many of the resorts. I am no Pollyanna, and know that there is a high possibility of catching a stray bug at WDW due to the sheer volume of people......but this bug is highly contagious and had all the CM's and resort employees talking. Most seemed to think it was the Norwalk virus.

It took my family out one by one during our 8 night stay. It came on viciously and violently. It started out with nausea and then forceful vomiting and diarreah for about 8 hours. It was so bad that all of us had accidents and could not make it to the bathroom (to vomit) at least a few times. The staff at the YC and BC were wonderful and told us that they and SSR had been hit the hardest. There were literally guests puking outside of the resort, in the food courts and bathrooms!

Just wanted to put this PSA out here for the DISers. Just remember to wash, wash, WASH your hands while down there!! Oh, and I pity the family that was assigned our room after we left....

We were there from Dec 13-19 and I wound up at Celebration Hospital with food poisoning on tuesday morning, after throwing up ALL NIGHT LONG.

We know it's not a virus because after 2 IV bags of fluid and a double dose of zofram (that stuff is awesome, btw) I was back in the park on wed, a little slower but feeling fine. According to the er doc, a virus will knock you out for longer.

We think it was the cherry danish in AK in Africa, it was the only thing that I did not share with our family (we're one of those families that everyone eats off of everyone elses plates) and I wear hand sanitizer on a loop on my lanyard so I was pretty sterile when I ate the danish. I was the only one of my family of four that got sick.

Interestingly enough, the LAST time we got food poisoning was also from that same area in Animal Kingdom, except that time it was my husband and younger daughter who had shared food from there. That was July 2007.

Use your hand sanitizer and avoid foods that sit out at room temp like danish...

ETA: My MIL who's a retired nurse says it's likely that there's probably a castmember (or ten) that's not washing their hands and is transmitting it like crazy, and probably touched the danish with their hands. She said that both viruses and bacteria can be transmitted very effectively this way. She said one tiny microscopic speck or smear of fecal matter left under a fingernail and wham, you're out...

 

[YesMickey]

Ugh!!! And my mother wonders why I'm bringing Lysol spray and Clorox wipes.....

Yeah Soarin, every time I stay in a hotel I bring my all-purpose with bleach spray bottle. Just put it in an old hairspray bottle with a cap in a quart ziploc and then again in my toiletry gallon ziploc. When I get to the room I spray the toilet seat, the sink and knobs, the shower/tub and knobs and then use the towel I cleaned them with to wipe down the light switches on the wall and lamps throughout the room. Usually takes me about 2-3 minutes. Oh yeah the outside/inside door knobs and card readers etc. Don't forget the little door latches also, because if you have ever walked past a room being cleaned they always lodge the little door lock/latch to keep the door open.

 

[Belle5]

All this talk of bleach...several in my family have asthma--one severe asthma. Nothing sets off an attack for them like bleach...I can't even imagine what would happen to them if they were around all the bleach some are claiming mousekeeping is using right now.

 

[Tiger926]

All this talk of bleach...several in my family have asthma--one severe asthma. Nothing sets off an attack for them like bleach...I can't even imagine what would happen to them if they were around all the bleach some are claiming mousekeeping is using right now.

Same with us - severe allergy to bleach. It's a double edged sword - you need the bleach to kill the virus as that is not good for people with asthma or respiratory illnesses, but by using bleach, you can set off an asthma attack.

This is why we don't travel during this time of year - no planes or cruises at all and only go to WDW during the summer.

Happy health to all - we are dealing with it here at home. We are beyond vigilant, but not everyone is at school. My baby has had it for 7 days now (he is high risk with asthma, recurrent pneumonia/bronchitis/double ear infections) and now my daughter. Just talked to my mom and she is ill as well. It seems to be a norovirus as it comes on very suddenly, no fever, not always diarrhea and lots of spitting/vomiting. I have been disinfecting and sanitizing the whole house even more than usual, when I should be wrapping gifts, sipping cocoa and singing Christmas carols.

We might have to cancel Christmas Eve as we always host - it's sad, but we have cancer patients and elderly in our family, so we need to look out for them. Sure wish more people thought about my baby who is immunocompromised as well - I'm so tired of people telling me it's good that he's sick. Ummm...No! Not with these types of illnesses. Our docs always laugh at that too - hospital visits are not the 'good' germs that help children's immune systems.

Tiger

 

[Maine-iac]

Has anyone who was sick or a family member was sick on departure day stayed an extra day or so before traveling home? You would think the airline would not want someone that sick flying and spreading the germs and would be willing to change your flights if possible.
A couple years ago United did change our DD's boyfriend's flight to the next day because he was vomiting. He was meant to fly home Christmas eve but ended up flying home Christmas night. United did not charge us after DH called the airport directly.

 

[happymommy]

Has anyone who was sick or a family member was sick on departure day stayed an extra day or so before traveling home? You would think the airline would not want someone that sick flying and spreading the germs and would be willing to change your flights if possible.
A couple years ago United did change our DD's boyfriend's flight to the next day because he was vomiting. He was meant to fly home Christmas eve but ended up flying home Christmas night. United did not charge us after DH called the airport directly.

Yes, two years ago, we were at the Dolphin in August. My DD came down with a high fever the night before we were supposed to leave, and then vomited. I called the doctor that comes to the room, and turned out she had strep throat! He got her on antibiotics, and I checked with Southwest Airlines. They changed our flight for a small fee (really cut me a break) and the hotel just extended our stay for a really good rate. It worked out okay, really, but even if she was feeling better, I didn't want her to fly the next day. If she had gotten sick to her stomach on the plane, that wouldn't have been good!

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

We're going at the end of the month and I purchased Clorox Professional Germicidal wipes off of Amazon. Apparently it has a 1:10 ratio of bleach to water which will hopefully kill norovirus. It was a little pricier than regular Clorox wipes, but has the bleach which should kill the nasty bugs.

 

[2005s4]

i was there the 16th-20th thankfully did not get sick

 

[Iggipolka]

We're going at the end of the month and I purchased Clorox Professional Germicidal wipes off of Amazon. Apparently it has a 1:10 ratio of bleach to water which will hopefully kill norovirus. It was a little pricier than regular Clorox wipes, but has the bleach which should kill the nasty bugs.

Thanks for the suggestion. I work at a hospital and am planning on taking some of the hospital grade germicidal wipes with me to WDW.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

All this talk of bleach...several in my family have asthma--one severe asthma. Nothing sets off an attack for them like bleach...I can't even imagine what would happen to them if they were around all the bleach some are claiming mousekeeping is using right now.

The smell of bleach when we walked into both of our rooms at SSR would literally knock you over - it was that strong. While I am glad they are being vigilant about the cleaning I would hope that they would have warned anyone about it that they knew had an asthma issue.

 

[jenjolt]

We're going at the end of the month and I purchased Clorox Professional Germicidal wipes off of Amazon. Apparently it has a 1:10 ratio of bleach to water which will hopefully kill norovirus. It was a little pricier than regular Clorox wipes, but has the bleach which should kill the nasty bugs.

Just purchased some of those myself for my trip in Mid-January..hopefully it won't be a problem, however better safe than sorry!!!

 

[Tiger926]

We're going at the end of the month and I purchased Clorox Professional Germicidal wipes off of Amazon. Apparently it has a 1:10 ratio of bleach to water which will hopefully kill norovirus. It was a little pricier than regular Clorox wipes, but has the bleach which should kill the nasty bugs.

Thanks for the info. I just went on the Clorox Professional website where these products are featured, and I can't find where it says it will kill Noroviruses? It mentions: Staph, HIV, MRSA and a few others. Are we just to assume that it is due to the bleach content? Not sure why it doesn't specifically mention Noroviruses?

Also, are we to assume that regular Clorox wipes do not have bleach in them? I know that Lysol wipes don't as mentioned on their website, but can't seem to find the answer for Clorox.

Thanks, Tiger

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thanks for the info. I just went on the Clorox Professional website where these products are featured, and I can't find where it says it will kill Noroviruses? It mentions: Staph, HIV, MRSA and a few others. Are we just to assume that it is due to the bleach content? Not sure why it doesn't specifically mention Noroviruses?

Also, are we to assume that regular Clorox wipes do not have bleach in them? I know that Lysol wipes don't as mentioned on their website, but can't seem to find the answer for Clorox.

Thanks, Tiger

Clorox wipes do not have bleach in them.

 

[rainbowsandroses]

I bought the mini-wand to take with!

http://www.germguardian.com/

 

[drcandon]

I took a look at the clorox wipes my DW purchased (in Canada) and they do have bleach in them.


If you take a look at the kill report on the container they will list what common stuff they will destroy..if some viruses are listed then it is a good guess it will be effective against a lot of them - not all - but most of the ones that make us sick - like Norwalk..

There is a lot of confusion about the correct concentration of sodium hypochlorite ( JAVEX/ Javel/ Clorox) to use..most folks think the stonger the better and in reality anything between a 1/10 and 90 % will kill ..the 1/10 just takes a bit longer - but smells a lot less horrible...remember the high concentrations of this chemical will affect respiratory patients - sometimes to the point of hospitization..Full strength is extremely hard on the skin and lungs.

As for alcohol - 70% is the strenght to use that will pass through the membranes ( cellular/ viral) wall and kill internal DNA structures...lower is no good and higher will not work at all...

And as I mentioned in a previous post the smell of Javex in our room near then end of our stay at AL was so strong that we opened the balcony doors for a hour or so before we went to bed to clear the smell... and we put the fan on as well...

 

[Tiger926]

I bought the mini-wand to take with!

http://www.germguardian.com/

We have the Swordfish UV system attached to our furnace, and a HEPA Air Exchanger system, and they have vastly improved our health, but we still get sick from time to time. UV does not seem to kill Norovirus according to the link on the Germ Guardian website for UV info. We were going to buy a Germ Guardian for the kids' rooms, but not sure if it would be necessary as we already have the other two products, but the wand does look good! It seems nothing will kill Norovirus except chlorine bleach and some new SaniGuard product: http://sanihome.com/catalog.html, but perhaps I've misunderstood something?

Time to go deal with my sickies here at home, Tiger