Norovirus outbreak at the Westgate, should I be concerned?

If this is being talked about elsewhere please direct me to the conversation, but should I be concerned about going week after next?

I'm not a medical expert and tend to get myself a little paranoid, but Norovirus is nothing to screw around with. Highly contagious. Like super highly.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/nevada/articles/2018-07-04/norovirus-like-illness-reported-at-westgate-las-vegas-resort

I mean, I'm staying pretty far from the Westgate and just won't visit that property and it will be almost a month into the outbreak before we get there so I imagine it will be pretty much over and cleaned up, but taking the kids has me worried, a little.

Thoughts?

 

Norovirus is just a nasty way of saying stomach flu. It's not pleasant, but certainly not deadly unless you have some other underlying medical issues. I would be zero percent concerned even if I were staying at the Westgate. It will run it's course I would think in the next week, but I can't see some widespread city wide epidemic anymore than any other city when the stomach bug goes around.

 

Concerned? You're not even staying there or even visiting the property? You'll be there a month after they've been able to deal with the situation? The place will be wiped and sprayed down to death with bleach and sanitizer. I can't see any problem at all...but this kind of thing can pop up anywhere. Do you worry about this everywhere you and the family go? Standard precautions: Wash your hands frequently. Keep your hands out of your mouth and eyes. That applies with your Disney trip, your family cruise trip, your LV trip and and the trip to the grocery store.

 

In my not so humble opinion, by the time these things have made the news reports and have spread on the Interwebs, they have probably run their course and should no longer be much of a concern.

 

Any public place has a risk of catching something from someone. In addition to washing your hands frequently and not touching your eyes, nose or mouth, use an alcohol pad to wipe down your phone’s case. That is one of the top fomites out there. Don’t use your finger to push elevator buttons, use a knuckle. Try using your foot to push open doors if the automatic ones aren’t available. On an escalator, don’t touch the handrail. Start thinking about all the different surfaces people touch and you figure out ways to reduce your risk of contracting something like norovirus. Bad news though if someone sick coughs/sneezes near you, your screwed. Hope this helps.

 

Best advice ever.

Keep in mind that you can get it while staying at a hotel miles from the one with an outbreak. Some idiot puts nis hand where he should not in the bathroom (and not while standing at the urinal), then does not wash his hands. He then touches something along the way - maybe miles away. Then YOU touch that same thing... followed by your hand in your eye or mouth and now you have it.

It gets on the news because the media loves it. And yes, once it starts spreading, more people touch something and spread it a bit more. This is not caused by the hotel. It is usually from the general public.

 

I never understood how hypochondriacs operate in Vegas. I have lost count of the times where I was the only one washing my hands in the bathroom before heading back out to the machines.

 

Vegas can be pretty gross; I would consider myself lucky to only get norovirus and not the plague (okay, not really, but I can't think about how many people touch slots anymore. I would never play again).

 

I see this quite a bit in Vegas and it really bothers me. Although I wouldn't necessarily call myself a hypochondriac, I am the guy that washes his hands a lot and doesn't like to touch door handles and handrails, lol.

 

Smudg Gluv's to the rescue. Back in the old days, slot players in particular, used to wear gloves to offset the coin tray that would dirty your hands with all the coins getting on your hands.
Since most slot machines nowadays are ticketed, it's not really needed now.
However, if you're really concerned about germs, get some nice gloves and keep in your pocket and use them when necessary.

 

You will be fine.

 

We are exposed to environmental pathogens on a regular basis. I'm sure most of you will remember that HS biology experiment when you swabbed off things like door knobs and telephone dials and such and cultured them.

 

Chances of catching the virus during your stay in Vegas is the same as while staying home.

 

Vomiting and diarrhea sounds like a typical trip to Vegas for me.

 

What Sonya and others are saying. Hotels and casinos actually do a good job of sanitizing their properties almost hourly. Especially the bigger properties.

You are traveling to a place that has 40,000,000 visitors. Many from overseas where hygiene is not something they worry about too much. If someone comes into America infected with something, it is going to be spread. Not much can be done about the infected coming in and coughing and touching everything.

Sine you said kids, do you worry about taking your kids to Disney World/Universal/Disneyland? You should be, Children are just breeding grounds for diseases. Which begs another question, why are you taking kids to Las Vegas, unless these kids are 21?

In all my trips to Las Vegas, I cannot recall ever getting so sick that I cannot function, other than from drinking way too much alcohol. I have been to many of the casinos and dives and dumps in Las Vegas also and never been knocked out for a few days in my room. Now, when I went to California for a work training session for two weeks, I was completely knocked out for about one week with a high fever, viral infection, lost my voice, etc. But I did win best presentation with my super raspy voice that would crack as I tried to speak, at the end of the session.

 

The most disgusting surface is the handrail on the escalators at the street overpasses. I don’t think they are ever cleaned. I had to resist the urge to cut off my hand the last time I inadvertently touched one.

 

I was having breakfast at the Orleans in May and the guy getting me my drinks put both his hands on top of the salt and pepper shakers using them to support himself on the table. Yucck! I grabbed the pair from another table and used them.

 

I'm sure it's not the first table there he has done that on.

Mark

 

Wrap yourself in bubble-wrap, wear one of those SAR masks, wear gloves, stay 10 feet away from every other human you encounter. And don't handle money or cards or chips and don't touch any slot machine buttons. But unprotected sex when you have a tryst with the hooker you meet at Jerry's Nugget at 5:30am? - nah, no worries!

Seriously, just wash your hands with soap and hot water frequently. You'll be fine. If you're a little OCD about it, bring some antiseptic wipes and wipe down the phone and TV remote in your room when you arrive.