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The virus that ate the Dulles Hilton

Mon Jan 22, 12:27 PM ET

Egads. First it was the return of bedbugs to hotels posh and humble. Now it's the stomach-turning norovirus, best known for infecting cruiseship vacationers.

The foodborne scourge is fast becoming an unwanted, frequent-stay hotel guest.             

On the day after Christmas, public health officials in Madison, Wisconsin, announced an outbreak of the virus, which sickened about 60 attendees of holiday parties at the Monona Terrace Convention Center and Edgewater Hotel.

Last Friday, the highly-contagious bug shut down the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel after 100 guests and employees fell ill. The hotel stopped taking reservations on Wednesday and started relocating guests.

After a top-to-bottom cleaning, the property plans to reopen Tuesday, according to wire reports. The hotel Web site makes no mention of it, but apparently Hilton Hotels Corp. has set up a hot line for anyone who stayed there last week (800-328-7761).

Outbreaks of norovirus, named for Norwalk, Ohio, where in November 1968 an outbreak occurred among children at an elementary school, usually strike in places where lots of people are together in a closed space: cruise ships, prisons, nursing homes - and hotels.

How to keep the little buggers at bay? There isn't too much you can do, besides plenty of hand washing, avoid touching mouth and eyes, and for Pete's sake, if you start to feel sick, go home.

Also, consider pulling a Donald Trump. Trump is famous for not shaking hands because of risk of infection, and he's right. According to the Centers for Disease Control, most cruiseship outbreaks start with infected food, then spread person-to-person.

Write to: Barbara Correa at bboydstoncorrea@yahoo.com

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Comments

Join the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

1
As far as on the ship, one Big way to stop the spread is have employees behind the food bars. Restrict the amount of people that have direct contact with the food. That way if a person did not wash their hands before going to eat it would be less likely to pass it on to others. I agree 100% with not shaking hands. The Chinese has the best idea, or take it back to the days of the Wild West...tip your hats.
Posted by jeffharechap on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 4:10 PM ET
2
That is really scary...I travel a lot & so have starting keeping hand sanitizer in my purse for the airplane & other times when I can't wash my hands easily.
Posted by kbwhat1 on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 4:26 PM ET
3
yuck! The author is definitly right about the not shaking hands. I travel fairly often and this is definitly a heads up.
Posted by downhilldiva92 on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 4:42 PM ET
4
just something I heard on the news..... the hand sanitizer will not kill this particular virus. Just thought you guys should know that...
Posted by ankurth@sbcglobal.net on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 6:30 PM ET
5
just something I heard on the news..... the hand sanitizer will not kill this particular virus. Just thought you guys should know that...
Posted by ankurth@sbcglobal.net on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 6:32 PM ET
6
I live in western Wisconsin, and four out of the five people in my family (including me) just had it, and it sent my mom to the hospital. Avoid it at all costs, because though it lasts only 48 hours, those hours are no fun at all!
Posted by jnhsoccer on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 6:40 PM ET
7
FYI if you do contract it, only bleach kills it.
Posted by jnhsoccer on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 6:46 PM ET
8
my husband, 6 month old son and i jsut traveled through reno, san francisco and portland, i hope there is no big risk for my son becuase of being on the plane!
Posted by im_at_starbux on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 6:50 PM ET
9
ew thats gross
Posted by lollipop2378 on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 7:13 PM ET
10
wash wash wash your hands as many times you can.
Posted by tpudden67 on Tue, Jan 23, 2007 6:08 AM ET