The spread of humanity across the Earth involved travel across the high seas, and until the advent of air travel, ships were the only way to cross the seas. The migration of humans also led to the spread of new diseases into nonimmune populations, with the introduction of pathogenic organisms or their vectors into these populations from ships and their crew. At the same time the presence of large groups of people on ships with limited sanitation, as well as poor food supplies, led to an increased risk of infectious diseases such as typhus and diseases of deficiency such as scurvy. With the advent of air travel, the number of people traveling by sea decreased until the recent resurgence of the cruise ship industry. The popularity of cruise ships for vacation travel has grown rapidly in recent years, and the Cruise Line International Association estimated that 21.3 million passengers traveled on cruise ships in 2103, and this number was forecast to be 21.7 million in 2014. The cruise industry has responded to these increasing passenger loads by increasing the size and capacity of cruise ships, with large “mega ships” that often carry over 5,000 passengers. While the most common cruise destination is the Caribbean, cruise ships are expanding their areas of operation and include river cruises and other destinations such as Antarctica, which are often inaccessible by other means of travel.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Infections on Cruise Ships


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2016-02-28


    Size :

    9 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English