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Danes sick of their holiday

TheCopenhagenPost
July 28th, 2017


This article is more than 7 years old.

Travel agency Spies say that over 20 guests have been hit by the rotavirus at a hotel in a holiday paradise

Authorities say that Hotel Baikal is not the source of the virus (photo: Aliman5040)

A group of Danish guests at the Hotel Baikal in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria have come down with the rotavirus.

The travel agency Spies reported that so far 20 cases have been reported in Danes staying at the hotel.

“We are currently registering about 20 sick Spies guests,” the agency told Ekstra Bladet. “We have had some cases during June and July, but there has recently been a marked increase.”

Highly contagious
Rotavirus is a contagious virus that can cause gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). Symptoms include severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Infants and young children are most likely to be affected by rotavirus. Rotavirus is extremely infectious, as fewer than 100 virus particles are enough to transmit infection.

They can become severely dehydrated and require hospitalisation. In severe cases, death can result.

While the guests infected with the virus are staying at the Hotel Baikal, local authorities say that there is no evidence that the hotel is the source of the problem.

No compensation
According to Norwegian news sources there are a total of 225 guests from Scandinavia at the hotel, and several Swedish and Norwegian guests have also been affected.

“The hotel is a large family hotel (about 600 guests), it could have helped increase the spread of the virus,” said Spies spokesperson Torben Andersen. “Local health authorities have tested samples from a number of guests, and all of the samples point to rotavirus alone and not to conditions at the hotel as a cause of illness.”

Sickened guests are not entitled to compensation, according to Spies.

“Since the virus comes from the outside, neither Spies nor the hotel is responsible.”


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”