Got the stomach flu in Disney??

[yrdlyprincess]

How many people have got the stomach flu or as my DH says "a bad stomach ache" it's not the flu! Just wondering how much I have to worry when I go down--we'll be down 11 days & DD CAN'T take more time off when we get home...plus who likes the stomach flu!!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Well, its not the time of year where most of these types of viruses go around. But that being said, you are going to be in a place where there are thousands of other people, so if anyone there has a bug of anykind, you are succeptable to catching it. I am curious though, our schools let out tomorrow, where are you that your DD is still in school that you are worried about her missing time?

 

[cinjam]

DS, then one, got a stomach bug when we were there one February. Then DH picked it up (probably from DS) a few days later. But in my case, 1-year olds put everything in their mouth and it's hard to stop that!!!

Just continually wash your hands - be vigilant!

 

[Alesia]

Eat yogurt every day. It will help prevent GI ilnesses.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

We've gotten sick almost every trip. If it is not a stomach flu it is a respiratory illness. Wash hands and say a prayer.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Sometimes people mistake the change in their diet (rich food on vacation) or the differences in the water (sort of a FL Montezuma's Revenge) on a stomach bug. I would make sure that I take some OTC medication for it, just in case.

FYI, stomach flu is a misnomer. The flu refers to a respiratory illness. Stomach problems are not the flu, just another kind of virus.

 

[~Brandy~]

I had a pretty bad 24 hour stomach bug during our June 06 trip. I was the only one who got it and we all ate pretty similarly during the days beforehand, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't food-related. I was waiting for my husband outside Mission:Space with our toddler and thinking about how sick it made me the last time, then I realized I was having the same feeling (and thought I was having an episode of heat-based insanity or something) and then promptly threw up in the garbage can.

Of course, then we had to walk ALL the way back to the car and drive to the hotel, where I spent the remainder of the day holed up in the bathroom. It was horrible, but short. By the next day I was feeling up for a trip to Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

My granddaughter got a 24 hour tummy bug in January '04 ... poor thing barfed all over Cindy's Royal Table. She and I left to go back to the hotel, leaving Pepaw and her brother to enjoy breakfast with the princesses

It was a nasty bug, that came on suddenly, but thankfully only lasted about 24 hours.

 

[Del]

Out of our many trips, twice the kids have come down with the yucky throwing up, won't eat, have to sleep the day away bug.

Bring the sanitizer and pepto

 

[CrazyaboutCinderella]

When I went in June '03 with my Mom, my oldest son and my nephew, we had pizza delivered to our room, and the next day, I had major stomach cramps and the whole works. Never got sick enought to p**e, and I am the only one that it affected. I was still leery of eating the pizza again on our '05 trip though. Mind over matter.

 

[tink_about_it]

3 of mine last trip. DH on the trip before that!

 

[DonaldsDaisy]

I have only gotten sick on 2 trips. Once was on one of my first trips. It was January and cold here in PA and 85 at WDW. The 2nd time was this past May. Not only did I get a stomach flu but I got nasty bronchitis.

I always look on the bright side. I finally got rid of those last 8 pounds from my pregnancy!

I wouldn't worry about getting sick. I just took it a little slower then normal and only stayed in bed one day.(I made to dinner though) It actually worked out fine because DH and DD got some quality time together.

 

[maxtomsmom]

I was so sick on our Sept. 05 trip. I had it on the plane, but I thought it was just nerves. I really don't like to fly and after 911 (I live in NY about 25 minutes outside of Manhattan), it has gotten worse especially if my children are with us. Anyhow, it continued after we landed. We headed straight to MK after check in and it continued. I then began to feel really awful and had to visit the infirmary where they told me I had 102 fever and needed to go back to my hotel (No kidding!). I couldn't make the long way back and they provided us with a courtesy van that operates with the infirmary. We have it on video. I was sick for three days with tunnel vision and all. It was the worst on the first day and by midmorning the next day I felt a little better. I stuck to the BRAT diet. It was the only trip I actually came back 8 pounds lighter. The only thing I could stomach (literally) was toast.

No one else had it while we were there. Thank goodness!

 

[coolkidhann95]

A couple years ago I was 9 and it was when there was the cyclospora (sp?) scare in basel (sp?) or a BAD stomach bug. Whatever you do, check CNN online at least once a day a week before you go and see if there is any food that has any kind of disease.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

This post is REALLy making me not want to take my 2 year old and 1 year old to Disney this fall.

 

[CleveRocks]

This post is REALLy making me not want to take my 2 year old and 1 year old to Disney this fall.

There's nothing about Disney World that makes people sick (except maybe the credit card bills).

Doctors know that people get sick more often when they travel than when they stay home. WHY? It has to do with bacteria/viruses (which I'll call "germs") and our immune systems. Our immune systems learn to fight off germs by being exposed to them, by meeting them. When our immune system meets a germ for the first time, the germ will usually win the fight, and you will get sick.

But when our immune system and that same germ meet in battle again, our immune system will almost always win, because it now recognizes and knows how to fight and kill that germ. We breath in and eat millions of germs every day, but our immune systems easily fight them off and we never know about it.

But germs are smart little buggers. The "stomach bug" germs in Chicago are slightly different than the stomach bug germs in Seattle, which are slightly different from the germs in Philadephia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, etc.

So any time you travel away from home, you expose yourself to that new area's germs. Since those germs are slightly different from your "home" germs, your immune system is assaulted with germs it has difficulty fighting. This is even more common in a touristy area -- you not only have the native germs, but you have germs brought in from all over the country and the world by fellow travelers.

I'll give you another perspective. My wife and I grew up in Philadephia. We had the usual childhood stuff and were very healthy adults. Then she started medical school in town, and even though she was exposed to a lot more germs she didn't get sick any more often than before because her immune system spent a lifetime in the area, and it knew how to fight the local germs. All was good and well until she graduated and we moved to Cleveland where she started as a pediatrician. It's only 500 miles from Philly, but it's a whole new set of germs. We spent our first year getting sick during each new season (different germs are popular during different seasons), but after our first exposures to a one-year cycle of Ohio germs we remained pretty much sick-free for the next few years. Then we moved to the Atlantic City area, and we got sick all over again during that first year here, again be cause we were exposed to "new" germs that our immune systems didn't initially know how to fight.

So don't avoid Disney because you think your kids might get sick. There's no way to keep them germ-free. Just use common sense by washing hands as often as possible, using a hand sanitizer when washing isn't practical, and avoid putting hands to face.

HAVE FUN!

 

[Alesia]

There's nothing about Disney World that makes people sick (except maybe the credit card bills).

Doctors know that people get sick more often when they travel than when they stay home. WHY? It has to do with bacteria/viruses (which I'll call "germs") and our immune systems. Our immune systems learn to fight off germs by being exposed to them, by meeting them. When our immune system meets a germ for the first time, the germ will usually win the fight, and you will get sick.

But when our immune system and that same germ meet in battle again, our immune system will almost always win, because it now recognizes and knows how to fight and kill that germ. We breath in and eat millions of germs every day, but our immune systems easily fight them off and we never know about it.

But germs are smart little buggers. The "stomach bug" germs in Chicago are slightly different than the stomach bug germs in Seattle, which are slightly different from the germs in Philadephia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, etc.

So any time you travel away from home, you expose yourself to that new area's germs. Since those germs are slightly different from your "home" germs, your immune system is assaulted with germs it has difficulty fighting. This is even more common in a touristy area -- you not only have the native germs, but you have germs brought in from all over the country and the world by fellow travelers.

I'll give you another perspective. My wife and I grew up in Philadephia. We had the usual childhood stuff and were very healthy adults. Then she started medical school in town, and even though she was exposed to a lot more germs she didn't get sick any more often than before because her immune system spent a lifetime in the area, and it knew how to fight the local germs. All was good and well until she graduated and we moved to Cleveland where she started as a pediatrician. It's only 500 miles from Philly, but it's a whole new set of germs. We spent our first year getting sick during each new season (different germs are popular during different seasons), but after our first exposures to a one-year cycle of Ohio germs we remained pretty much sick-free for the next few years. Then we moved to the Atlantic City area, and we got sick all over again during that first year here, again be cause we were exposed to "new" germs that our immune systems didn't initially know how to fight.

So don't avoid Disney because you think your kids might get sick. There's no way to keep them germ-free. Just use common sense by washing hands as often as possible, using a hand sanitizer when washing isn't practical, and avoid putting hands to face.

HAVE FUN!

You are exactly right. Another way to avoid this, as I pointed out earlier, is to eat yogurt every day, before and during your trip. It keeps the bacteria in your intestinal tract in the proper balance.

 

[Gillian]

You are exactly right. Another way to avoid this, as I pointed out earlier, is to eat yogurt every day, before and during your trip. It keeps the bacteria in your intestinal tract in the proper balance.

I'm not sure about this. My kids eat a lot of yougurt and DD still got sick at Disney. Aren't most stomach things viral?

 

[Gillian]

I'm willing to bet that because it's a vacation, people get out of bed a lot faster than they would at home, spreading their sickness around more. This doesn't apply to food poisoning, of course, but I think truly bad food is rare. Illness spread through other guests or food workers is more common.

DD got sick at WDW, but she was the only one, and it was a very mild thing. She woke up in our camper at 2 am crying and then coughing. DH leapt out of bed, saying, "she's going to throw up!" and had a bowl in front of her in time. It was just once, not a lot, and she was better the next day after sleeping in a little.

People wonder what 2 year olds will remember from WDW, if anything. Well, DD will always remember throwing up in the camper.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

We are going in Sept (right after school starts) I was just wondering because I have read about so many people getting sick there. We had a VERY bad stomach thing this year ---went to a super bowl party & 1 person that came was sick (just getting over it) and got 12 (yes 12) of us sick so I was just wondering!