CLIA’s Crye Sets the Record Straight on H1N1

Seatrade Insider
September 21, 2009

Cruise Lines International Association reiterated its commitment to aggressively managing all cases of influenza, including H1N1, as the Northern Hemisphere flu season approaches, bringing a potential resurgence of the virus. 

This point was emphasized at Seatrade Europe by CLIA evp Michael Crye, who further tried to set the record straight on H1N1. ‘Our treatment and monitoring is beyond what regulations require. Our procedures have no parallel in Europe or the US or anywhere we operate,' he said.

Crye pointed out that airlines, by contrast, aren't doing anything: ‘They don't screen, isolate or disinfect the planes between flights.'

The virus, he noted, is relatively mild in terms of symptoms -- fever, cough, runny nose, body aches, fatigue -- but is serious in terms of numbers, with more than 209,000 cases reported globally as of late August.

However, Crye said H1N1 has caused only 2,185 deaths worldwide, for a relatively low mortality rate of 0.61%. That compares to seasonal flu which accounts for 30,000 deaths in the US alone, and 350,000 deaths worldwide. Also far more deadly, the avian flu outbreak of 2006-07 in Asia had an 80% mortality rate in Indonesia.

Besides its prevalence, H1N1 poses a concern in that it is a novel virus. People do not easily build up immunity, and the disease is readily transmitted. Even so, it is killed by routine sanitation procedures on ships and effectively treated by antivirals Tamiflu and Relenza. Plus, the Food and Drug Administration last week approved a vaccine which is due to become available in the US starting in mid-October.

Under the Advance Maritime Declaration of Health, ships are required to report diseases specified by local officials and, always, serious ailments like SARs and yellow fever.

Working closely with the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Health Canada, CARICOM and other bodies, the cruise industry continuously revises its H1N1 policies and procedures as the situation dictates, Crye said.

In May, CLIA instituted screening protocols including a written questionnaire for passengers prior to embarking a member line's ship anywhere in the world. A secondary screening is conducted if a passenger reports flu-like symptoms or contact with an H1N1 case. 

Medical personnel at each line make case by case decisions about boarding these passengers. Further, if passengers or crew exhibit flu symptoms while the cruise is under way, they are isolated for five to seven days and treated with antivirals.

‘If the illness gets more severe, this program can be changed,' Crye said.

Despite all the cruise line H1N1 protocols, some countries have stopped ships from calling, or are threatening to do so in the future.

‘This is an overreaction, and it's a misunderstanding,' Crye said. ‘We're doing everything we can to keep H1N1 off the ships and to manage it when it does come on board.'