Tag Archives: Diarrhea

Bathroom blogging in New York City

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Amy, Sorenne and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to New York City.

And when we’re all in the same hotel room, and I wake up early to do some writing, I’ll go to the bathroom, shut the door and blog away.

If I go to NYC for five weeks Thanksgiving to New Year’s holiday orgy in the U.S., I could make $10,000 – for blogging about bathrooms.

Procter & Gamble Co. is looking for five people who will, in return for $10,000, spend five weeks in a Charmin-branded, Manhattan bathroom and blog about the experience.

The five “Charmin Embassadors” will work in the Charmin Restrooms in Times Square from Nov. 23 to Dec. 31. Job requirements include interacting with hundreds of thousands of bathroom guests, maintaining their own blogs and content on Charmin-branded Web sites and popular social media sites, and sharing family-friendly video from the restroom space and surrounding areas.

How is friendly-family video defined? Reminds me of one of the earliest episodes of South Park where adults protesting apparently scandalous TV content inundate the studio and are stricken with foodborne illness – the green apple splatters.
 

Students at UC Santa Cruz have got the spews

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Last year I had a pretty crappy birthday – literally. I spent a few days on the toilet, and a few hours in the hospital, after contracting what was likely Norovirus. Today santacruz.com reports that several students at University California Santa Cruz (UCSC) are suffering from the same symptoms. 58 students and staff members are ill with flu-like symptoms, two of which have been hospitalized. One of the students, Zach Mialonis, who was ill less than 24 hours after eating at one of the campus cafeterias, said,

“I woke up around 4:30am throwing up and having horrible diarrhea. A bunch of other kids on my floor got sick too. I had a big quiz the next day that I had to miss.”

According to the report, epidemiologists believe the outbreak is linked to improper hygiene. Jessica Oltmanns, an epidemiologist with the Santa Cruz County Health Department, said,

“Our tests concluded that this was not a point source outbreak. The people affected by the virus were spread throughout campus, and in the end we couldn’t pinpoint where the outbreak occurred. This virus is most often spread by fecal mater and vomitus. It was not food poisoning.”

This isn’t the first outbreak of Norovirus on a campus. Last October Norovirus outbreaks affected Georgetown, USC and UVM; in November, the University of Wisconsin.  Norovirus is common in confined living spaces, like dorms and cruise ships, as it is easily transmitted by exposure to poop, vomit or blood. Symptoms usually persist for 48 to 72 hours, and in extreme cases can lead to hospitalization from dehydration.

The best way to prevent the spread of Norovirus is through proper handwashing, especially after using the washroom. If your roommate is sick, make sure the vomit is properly cleaned up.
 

Norovirus strikes Wisconsin residence, cruise ship … me?

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I don’t know what I have (right, exactly as shown), but can sympathize with the people quoted below.

University of Wisconsin freshman Ibrahim Balkhy contracted norovirus Sunday morning, saying,

“There was lots of puking and diarrhea — it was hell. All I have eaten are saltines.”

Between 20 and 30 residents of Sellery 6A, one of UW’s largest residence halls, have been fighting the virus since Thursday.

Craig Roberts, an epidemiologist for University Health Services, said the norovirus spreads through stool-to-mouth contact. It enters through the mouth and is passed via the stool or vomit of an infected person.

So don’t eat poop.

Meanwhile, 260 passengers and 17 crew members on board the Holland America Line M.S. Zuiderdam, have come down with norovirus

Brampton, Ontario, resident Ken Ould, 78, said that five days into his transatlantic cruise, the projectile vomiting and diarrhea started.

By the time he and the other 1,819 passengers and 794 crew disembarked in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, he had missed three ports of call, and spent five days confined to his cabin with his wife Joyce.

Now, if you’ll excuse me …

Hope College in Michigan closed in light of Norovirous outbreak

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Ottawa County Health Department officials closed Hope College on Friday after a four-day Norovirous outbreak that has left more than 400 staff and students sick.

“Earlier Sunday, the college said the number of reported cases of the flu-like illness causing vomiting and diarrhea for 24 to 48 hours climbed to 180, but many students felt those numbers self-reported to the health department are low.”

A Facebook page for the campus community called "Hope College: The Great Plague of 2008," was created by a freshman student to find out how many people have been affected by the sickness.  About a third of the campus community registered at the site, 14% of who said they are sick or had been.

Health officials strongly urged students to remain on campus, but not to congregate, to help stop the spread of infection.  However many students chose to leave campus once the closure was announced.  At the earliest, campus is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday.  During the closure, a campus cleaning crew will be sanitizing common surfaces.

Norovirous is highly contagious virus that is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the United States.
No specific treatment is available for Norovirus. In most healthy people, the illness usually is self-limiting and resolves in a few days.

The CDC recommends frequent handwashing, especially after using the bathroom or before preparing food.  Contaminated surfaces and materials should be thoroughly disinfected.  Infected individual should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 3 days after they recover from their illness.

Swedish court rules that diarrhea no excuse for speeding

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A court in Trelleborg, Sweden, has ruled that a woman’s diarrhea was not a sufficient reason for her to break the posted speed limit while driving.

The district court rejected the 49-year-old woman’s argument that she was forced to drive 53 mph in a 43 mph zone because of her digestive issues, Swedish news agency TT reported Thursday.

The court said the speed limit can only be broken in cases of emergency, which it defined as a danger to someone’s life or to prevent a serious crime.

The woman was ordered to pay her speeding ticket.
 

Love guru Mike Myers dreading diarrhea on Aussie red carpet

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Starpulse.com reports that Mike Myers realized he was ill on his way to his Love Guru premiere in Australia earlier this month and had to stop at a number of restaurants to use restrooms before he actually got to the premiere.

"In Australia, when you go into a drug store you actually have to talk to the pharmacist…I was looking around and I was, like, ‘Hi!’ ‘Hello, you’re Mike Myers, how are you? What can I do for you?’ (I said) ‘I’d like Pepto-Bismol please.’ ‘We don’t know what that is…What is it exactly, Mike?’ I was like, ‘It’s for tummy trouble.’"

But the confused Aussie staffmember at the pharmacy needed him to be more specific, prompting a desperate Myers to reveal he was suffering from diarrhea.

He adds, "(They said) ‘How very interesting, you’re a superstar with diarrhea.’ I’m like, ‘Hmmm, don’t feel like a superstar right now.’"

No indication if the cause was food or water related, but hey, Mike, we’ve all been there. Not messing around on a bed with Madonna or cavorting with Beyonce, but we’ve all had the runs.

Best Mike Myers role? So many good lines and characters from the Toronto-area funny man, but the best is the Don Cherry-inspired hockey announcer on the vastly underrated Russell Crowe vehicle, Mystery, Alaska.

And that’s Dr. Evil to you. I didn’t spend all those years at Evil University to be Mr. Evil.

Salmonella Symptoms

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Someone came to the blog this morning searching “Salmonella Saintpaul flatulence” inspiring this post. As of last night 138 people in 11 states were sick from Salmonella in tomatoes.

According to http://www.about-salmonella.com/salmonella_symptoms_risks, Salmonella can cause gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, and bacteremia. The following are symptoms of Salmonella gastroenteritis:

  • diarrhea
  • abdominal cramps
  • fever, generally 100°F to 102°F (38°C to 39°C)
  • nausea, and/or
  • vomiting

In mild cases diarrhea may be non-bloody, occur several times per day, and not be very voluminous; in severe cases it may be frequent, bloody and/or mucoid, and of high volume. Vomiting is less common than diarrhea.

Other frequently reported symptoms are

  • headaches
  • muscle pain, and
  • joint pain

Whereas the diarrhea typically lasts 24 to 72 hours, patients often report fatigue and other nonspecific symptoms lasting 7 days or longer.

The FDA has a thorough analysis of Salmonella in their Bad Bug Book.

If you are concerned that you have food poisoning, you should contact your local health unit or Seattle law firm Marler-Clark that specializes in foodborne illness litigation.

Airplane Diarrhea

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May not be foodborne, but this probably will not increase the profile of Egypt’s tourism; this would be a horrible flight to be on.

Greece: diarrhea outbreak on charter flight
10.apr.07
Pravda
http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/10-04-2007/89446-diarrhea-0
An Easter holiday became a disaster for 60 Greek tourists flying home from Egypt. They were affected by a mass diarrhea outbreak on a charter plane, the officials said Tuesday.
Three women were briefly hospitalized with high temperatures after the Egypt Air flight landed at Thessaloniki airport early Tuesday, officials said. They were discharged soon afterward.
The plane was carrying 120 Greek holidaymakers returning from Cairo to Thessaloniki.
Doctors said the outbreak was due to food-poisoning, from a meal consumed before the sufferers boarded the plane.