According to Popular Science’s reporting, the truth lies somewhere between the extreme media panic and the cruise industry’s assertion that ships are among the safest vacations in the world.
Dr. David O. Freedman, professor emeritus of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, echoed that middle ground to Popular Science, noting that while real transmission risks exist onboard, “people shouldn’t be frightened.”
So what makes a cruise ship unique, and why do diseases spread there in the first place? As Schaffner explained to Popular Science, it comes down to prolonged close contact in shared spaces. “We have many hundreds of people, both the passengers and the crew, close together, indoors principally, for long periods of time,” Schaffner noted. “Those are environments where highly contagious infectious agents can spread.”
When it comes to what travelers actually catch on board, Popular Science notes that about a third of reported medical visits are for common respiratory infections like the flu and RSV. And while recent headlines about a rare hantavirus outbreak on an expedition vessel raised alarms, both experts told Popular Science that typical cruisegoers have virtually zero reason to worry about it. Freedman called the incident “a fluke, an anomaly” tied to a specific rural land excursion, adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was never another hantavirus outbreak on a ship.”
The real culprit on cruises remains norovirus—the infamous gastrointestinal bug that causes roughly 12 shipboard outbreaks a year on U.S.-calling vessels. As Schaffner observed to Popular Science, the virus is so persistent that “it’s often nicknamed ‘the cruise ship virus.’”
“Hand sanitizers are alcohol-based. Alcohol does not kill norovirus—it has no effect,” Freedman told Popular Science, explaining that because norovirus lacks a fatty outer envelope, only physical handwashing with good old-fashioned soap and water can remove it.
Schaffner attributed that dramatic drop to cruise lines paying “a great deal of attention” to prevention, from installing widespread handwashing stations to rigorous surface disinfection and passenger screening.
Related: 5 Things I'm Doing Differently on My Second Mediterranean Cruise
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