logo
Norovirus sickens nearly 80 passengers on cruise that left from Florida

Norovirus sickens nearly 80 passengers on cruise that left from Florida

Yahoo26-02-2025

Dozens of passengers aboard a cruise ship that left from Florida have been sickened with norovirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program.
Holland America Line's Eurodam left Port Everglades, Florida, on Feb. 19, according to the tracking site cruisemapper.com. The cruise is scheduled to last 10 days and make multiple stops throughout the Caribbean before returning to Florida on March 1.
Seventy-nine passengers and nine crew members have reported feeling ill, according to the Vessel Sanitation Program, which said 2,057 passengers and 834 crew members are aboard the 12-deck vessel.
The predominant symptoms reported are diarrhea and vomiting, the Vessel Sanitation Program said. The ship's crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures, isolated ill passengers and crew members, and collected stool specimens for testing, the program said. The crew will stay in contact with the Vessel Sanitation Program to consult on sanitation procedures and report any additional illnesses.
CBS News has reached out to Holland America Line for comment.
Norovirus is a very contagious illness that causes vomiting and diarrhea. Most people who are sickened with it report feeling better in one to three days, but remain contagious for a few days afterward, according to the CDC. In addition to vomiting and diarrhea, patients may experience nausea, stomach pain, fever, headaches and body aches. Patients may also become dehydrated.
Much of the United States has seen a surge in norovirus cases this year. In January, the CDC said a winter wave of infections reached levels more than double what was seen last year.
This is the second Holland America Line ship to be struck with a norovirus outbreak this month. Another cruise ship, the Rotterdam, left from Port Everglades on Feb. 2, according to cruisemapper.com. Nineteen crew members and 166 passengers reported feeling ill, the Vessel Sanitation Program said.
The Vessel Sanitation Program has investigated three other norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships this year. It said an outbreak on Princess Cruises' Coral Princess in January sickened 128 passengers and 20 crew members. Another outbreak on the Viking Ocean Cruises ship Viking Mars affected 62 passengers and nine crew members. The first norovirus outbreak investigated by the Vessel Sanitation Program this year was aboard another Holland America Line ship. Ninety-three passengers and 11 crew members were sickened on the Volendam, the Vessel Sanitation Program said.
Vatican releases update on Pope Francis' health
Musk doubles down on email from federal employees, Trump backs him up
Southwest plane nearly collides with business jet on Chicago runway

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

RFK Jr. Purges CDC's Vital Vaccine Advisory Committee
RFK Jr. Purges CDC's Vital Vaccine Advisory Committee

Gizmodo

time23 minutes ago

  • Gizmodo

RFK Jr. Purges CDC's Vital Vaccine Advisory Committee

On Monday afternoon, the head of HHS enacted a "clean sweep" of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is continuing his ideological purge of the federal government. The Health and Human Services Secretary just terminated all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—the outside experts who help steer the country's vaccine policies. Kennedy announced the firings late Monday afternoon in an editorial published by the Wall Street Journal. He argued that by 'retiring' the ACIP's current members, he would restore the public's trust in vaccines. However, RFK Jr. himself has long overexaggerated the dangers of vaccination, and experts worry that he will stock the ACIP with anti-vaccination proponents. 'Today's action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines…trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,' said Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, in a statement provided to Gizmodo. 'With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.' The ACIP is a panel of outside experts assembled by the CDC. Their recommendations, formally adopted by the CDC, greatly influence which vaccines are routinely provided to the public. States often mandate that children receive vaccines universally recommended by the ACIP, such as the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, before they can enter public school, for instance. Insurance plans are also typically required to cover ACIP-recommended vaccines without any cost-sharing. For two decades, RFK Jr. has regularly misrepresented the evidence on vaccine safety and other important health issues. And it didn't take long for him to signal that he would undermine the country's vaccine policies. In his opening speech as the head of HHS in mid-February, Kennedy stated that he would form a commission to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule as a potential culprit of chronic disease (no strong evidence supports a connection between the vaccine schedule and a population-level rise in chronic illness). Kennedy has previously argued that the ACIP's current and former members were rife with conflicts of interest, such as having received money from vaccine manufacturers. During the Senate committee hearings this January, for instance, he claimed that 97% of ACIP members had these conflicts—an unsurprisingly misleading claim. Kennedy was wrongly citing a 2009 report that found 97% of financial disclosure forms from people on advisory committees in 2007 had at least one error or omission, such as missing dates. Kennedy's latest WSJ editorial correctly describes the 97% statistic, though he still appears to imply these omissions are largely undeclared financial conflicts (the 2009 report found that 15% of members did not comply with ethics requirements during their committee stints). Aside from eliding the truth about the ACIP's ethical standards, Kennedy seems to have outright broken his promise to Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) that he would 'maintain' the ACIP without changes—a promise that secured Cassidy's pivotal tiebreaker vote in early February to further his nomination through the Senate. On a X post late Monday, Cassidy acknowledged many people's fears that the ACIP will now 'be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.' But Cassidy didn't acknowledge the broken promise, only stating that he would continue talking with Kennedy to 'ensure that this is not the case.' Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion. I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the — U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) June 9, 2025 Of course, there's little reason to believe that RFK Jr's antivax agenda will be meaningfully constrained by anyone in the government. He's already enacted a renewed investigation into the debunked link between vaccines and autism—an investigation that will be led by notorious vaccine skeptic David Geier. Kennedy and the Trump administration have also impeded the development of newer, possibly more effective vaccines for both flu and covid-19, and are attempting to place testing roadblocks that will make future vaccine approvals harder to secure.

HHS justifies decision to stop recommending Covid shots during pregnancy with studies supporting the shots' safety
HHS justifies decision to stop recommending Covid shots during pregnancy with studies supporting the shots' safety

Politico

timean hour ago

  • Politico

HHS justifies decision to stop recommending Covid shots during pregnancy with studies supporting the shots' safety

The Department of Health and Human Services is circulating a document on Capitol Hill to explain its decision to remove the Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for pregnant women — citing studies that largely found the shot is safe. The document, which HHS sent to lawmakers days before Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his plan to fire the panel that advises the CDC on immunizations, says that studies have shown that women who got the vaccine during pregnancy had higher rates of various complications. And it claims that 'a number of studies in pregnant women showed higher rates of fetal loss if vaccination was received before 20 weeks of pregnancy,' footnoting a research paper on vaccination during pregnancy. But Dr. Maria P. Velez of McGill University, the lead author of one of the studies, told POLITICO in an email that 'the results of our manuscript were misinterpreted.' The 2023 study shows a slightly higher rate of miscarriages among women who were immunized against Covid-19 during their pregnancies. But, Velez said, that after adjusting for 'variables that can confound a crude association,' like 'age, rurality, neighbourhood income quintile, immigration status, comorbidity' and other factors that could affect the outcome, Canadian researchers found 'no association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and an increased risk of miscarriage.' Raw numbers don't account for significant differences among the groups being compared — such as underlying conditions and when during pregnancy the people were vaccinated, said Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist who's consulted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists, including the Canadian researchers, use statistical methods to adjust for those factors, she said, which is how they determined the vaccine wasn't associated with miscarriage. In a statement, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon pointed to the raw study data, which showed a slightly higher rate of miscarriage in the first half of pregnancy for women who were vaccinated against Covid compared with those who weren't. 'The underlying data speaks for itself — and it raises legitimate safety concerns,' he said. 'HHS will not ignore that evidence or downplay early pregnancy loss.' Nixon added that HHS and the CDC encourage people to talk to their providers 'about any personal medical decision.' Vaccine researchers and obstetricians criticized the decision to remove the recommendation for pregnant women, and researchers cited in the HHS document largely dismissed any connection between Covid vaccination and miscarriages. 'Given that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy is associated with serious maternal and neonatal morbidity, the current study can inform healthcare providers, pregnant women and those considering a pregnancy about the safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in relation to miscarriage risk,' Velez and her co-authors wrote in the study. That research was based on health-system data from Ontario, Canada, and aligned with similar population studies in the U.S., Scotland and Norway. Similarly, HHS cited an April 2022 study in its document concerning mRNA vaccination in people undergoing in-vitro fertilization, which also found no adverse effects on conception rates or on early pregnancy outcomes. 'Administration of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines was not associated with an adverse effect on stimulation or early pregnancy outcomes after IVF,' the New York City-based researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai West hospital wrote in the study. 'Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccination in women who are trying to conceive.' The HHS document also includes an incorrect link for that study, instead leading to a different study — also cited in HHS' document — by Israeli researchers that found the vaccine 'appears to be safe during pregnancy,' with no increase in preterm labor or in newborns with low birth weight. That February 2022 study did note a possible increase in preterm birth rates for women vaccinated during the second trimester, and the authors suggested future investigations of outcomes based on the timing of immunization. HHS' assertion about significant risks to pregnant women 'contradicts the bulk of published studies,' said Dr. Paul Offit, an expert who has served as an outside adviser on vaccines to the FDA and the CDC. HHS deviated from past practice when it changed the Covid vaccine guidance last month, announcing the decision without the endorsement of an existing outside panel of expert advisers. Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told POLITICO at the time that he was disappointed by HHS' decision, and pointed to data showing that newborns can benefit from maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection from Covid. 'In fact, growing evidence shows just how much vaccination during pregnancy protects the infant after birth, with the vast majority of hospitalized infants less than 6 months of age — those who are not yet eligible for vaccination — born to unvaccinated mothers,' Fleischman said.

How having a sleepy teen could save your kid from a future heart attack
How having a sleepy teen could save your kid from a future heart attack

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

How having a sleepy teen could save your kid from a future heart attack

For parents with a sleepy teenager, less variable sleep patterns could be a sign of a healthier future for their child. Teens who had better sleep habits at age 15 were found to have improved heart health seven years later, researchers at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said on Monday. The healthy sleep habits include falling asleep and waking up earlier, spending a lower percentage of time in bed awake, and having lower variability in total sleep time and sleep onset. Average total sleep time did not predict future cardiovascular health. In teens, cardiac incidents are rare, but they can occur. Approximately 2,000 young and seemingly healthy people under the age of 25 die each year of sudden cardiac arrest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart attacks in people under 40 have been increasing over the past decade, the Cleveland Clinic notes. 'Given the importance of sleep health for physical health and well-being in the short-term, we were not surprised to see a lasting association between adolescent sleep timing, sleep maintenance efficiency, and sleep variability with cardiovascular health in young adulthood,' Dr. Gina Marie Mathew, a senior post-doctoral associate in public health at Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine, explained in a statement. 'It was unexpected, however, that with and without adjustment for potentially confounding factors, total sleep time during adolescence was not a significant predictor of cardiovascular health during young adulthood,' she added. 'This single null finding, of course, does not indicate that total sleep time is unimportant. Rather, when paired with other studies, these findings underscore the complexity of sleep health and the need to consider multiple sleep dimensions as potential targets for promoting and maintaining cardiovascular health.' Mathew was the lead data analyst and author of the National Institutes of Health-backed research that was presented on Sunday at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting. To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed data from Princeton and Columbia University's Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study: the longest-running and only contemporary U.S. birth cohort study of young adults based on a national sample. Their data included 307 adults, the majority of whom were girls. At age 15, participants wore a device on their wrist for a week to measure sleep variables. At age 22, their cardiovascular health was assessed using their diet, physical activity, exposure to nicotine, body mass index, and measurements of fats in the blood, blood sugar, and blood pressure. They were scored based on these factors using the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8. Teens between the ages of 13 and 18 years old should sleep eight to 10 hours regularly to promote optimal health, the academy said. Getting the recommended number of hours is associated with improved attention, behavior, memory, mental and physical health, and other positive outcomes. However, Mathew pointed out that the results highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach to address the relationship between adolescent sleep health and cardiovascular health. 'Future research and recommendations should emphasize the importance of multiple dimensions of sleep health, including earlier sleep timing, higher sleep maintenance efficiency, and lower sleep variability as protective factors for long-term heart health,' she said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store