Sick from Cosmic Rays...anyone else?

[RICKY MOUSE]

Several years ago several of my family members (including myself) became ill after eating at a restaurant (non-Disney); after being admitted to the hospital for treatment the doctor explained to me that a group of people could all eat from the same piece of food, chicken in my case and only one get sick. The point is the same as others you may never know what caused your illness. Just to let you know I have become ill 2 times after eating at Disney once at OHANA'S and another time at JIKO'S at Animal Kingdom Lodge \, never been back to either one.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

It`s always so difficult to pinpoint where germs come from--even a door handle can transmit germs!! I do what Niles does on " Frasier"and push doors of restrooms open with part of my clothing, so I don`t have to touch them----"Frasier" fans will know what I mean!! Could I be heading for OCD??

If you are in a public restroom for any length of time you will see plenty of people do their business and leave without washing their hands. Now think of that same person heading for lunch at a buffet and everything he touches becomes tainted with nasty germs. :hurl: When I leave the restroom I try to use paper towels on the door handle. It might not fully protect but it might help.

 

[eroyee]

Hubby and I ate at a restaurant in Orlando before Disneyworld once and we ate the same thing except I ate mushrooms on mine. I was really sick all my first night at Disney. It was awful. He was fine. so, could have been the condiment bar. Who knows, though? Glad you are okay and didnt let it ruin your trip. Worst place in the world to be sick is Disney, thats for sure!!!

 

[slappy magoo]

Come on guys use your common sense. I agree at a place like WDW it is hard to pinpoint, but 3 people got sick the same night, I'm assuming within the same timeframe, they all ate the same thing. Come on it's way easier to believe that they got sick from bad meat than it is to believe they all contacted the same exact thing just from touching things and being at WDW.

I don't think anyone is saying that there's no way they got sick from eating at Cosmic Ray's, just that there's no way to know. Just because Cosmic Ray's was the last place they ate before getting sick, that doesn't mean it was the food from Cosmic Ray's. It could've been food they ate at breakfast (and yes, that could mean they got sick from food at WDW, just not at Ray's).

I still think it's important to let Disney know, but I'd also suggest reporting where else they ate that day (unless that was the first meal they ate that had food prepared by Disney, as opposed to say, a meal offsite or cereal in their hotel room). I'd also suggest being as descriptive as possible as to WHAT was eaten. Maybe they all ate burgers, but they also all added tomatoes to them and it was the tomatoes that was a problem and not the beef. No way to know Disney will investigate, but if they do, giving them as much info as possible would help better isolate what the problem was.

However, I would also add that it's kind of odd that the OP asked if this happened to anyone else, as if getting food poisoning from Cosmic Ray's was a normal occurrence.

 

[CleveRocks]

Come on guys use your common sense. I agree at a place like WDW it is hard to pinpoint, but 3 people got sick the same night, I'm assuming within the same timeframe, they all ate the same thing. Come on it's way easier to believe that they got sick from bad meat than it is to believe they all contacted the same exact thing just from touching things and being at WDW.

You're exactly correct ... 3 people got sick around the same time. They all ate the same thing. But they all touched the same ride handles, they all touched the same doorknobs, or they all touched hands at some point (one of them contacted it, and then spread it to the others).

Bottom line in epidemiology ... the easiest thing to see is not always the answer. Yes, it IS way easier to believe that it was the meal. But just because it's easier to believe doesn't mean it's accurate.

 

[CleveRocks]

However, I would also add that it's kind of odd that the OP asked if this happened to anyone else, as if getting food poisoning from Cosmic Ray's was a normal occurrence.

Not arguing, just making an observation ...

I didn't find it odd at all. I actually found it quite refreshing. Often, people come around here screaming that they know exactly where they got food poisoning. The OP, I think, realizes that Cosmic Ray's might not be the vector, but that if it is the vector it could be confirmed by hundreds if not thousands of others having the same problem.

I just took it a different way than you did, that's all.

 

[acishere]

It`s always so difficult to pinpoint where germs come from--even a door handle can transmit germs!! I do what Niles does on " Frasier"and push doors of restrooms open with part of my clothing, so I don`t have to touch them----"Frasier" fans will know what I mean!! Could I be heading for OCD??

I do that all the time. And when its a pull door, I'm in short sleeves, and there are no paper towels to touch the handle with I get frustrated. I'm aware I have problems though.

 

[CleveRocks]

Getting sick while on vacation is MUCH more common than while at home. Doctors loosely call it "travelers' illness" or something like that. Getting sick while traveling is more likely than while at home for several reasons: your immune system is not functioning as efficiently due to stress and perhaps more exercise (walking) than you're used to; you tend to be slightly dehydrated; and you encounter "foreign" bacteria. Our immune systems are pretty good at fighting germs they've encountered before, but they kinda stink at fighting "foreign" germs, meaning germs they've never seen before. This means that if you go to a different region, you are more likely to be exposed to germs your immune system has never seen before, and therefore it's easier to get sick. That problem is compounded a thousand times over at a vacation mecca such as WDW, where you not only have the local central Florida germs, but you also have germs imported from all over the world by those 34 million tourists every year.

But people usually don't take that into account when they get sick on vacation. They tend to blame food and ONLY food. There are PLENTY of viruses out there that cause GI upset, and not all of them are food-borne. But catching a germ from touching a surface is "invisible," so we don't even know it happened. But we remember eating a burger, so we blame the burger.

Problem is, that's not always the case.