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Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Sharleen - 04-09-2018
https://www.ksat.com/news/local-newlywed-contracts-life-threatening-bacteria-on-honeymoon
HELP!!! Leptospirosis is a huge problem…….
A group of 18 visited Jamaica from Feb 8 - 12th from Maryland. We LOVE Jamaica. We did an excursion to the Blue Hole on the Saturday. It poured raining on our drive up the mountain so when we arrived the Blue Hole was brown from all the run off. Most in the group still decided to jump and swim but a few of us did not. We returned to the USA on the 12th thrilled from our trip.
Then the bad started on February 20th one person started with severe headache, 104 fever and stiff neck, yellowing of the eyes, horrible muscle pain, dizziness, sweats - this list of symptoms goes on! Drs assumed he had the flu. Within the next 4 days 5 others in our group ended up with the same symptoms. It was horrible pain and after many visits to the Dr. they sent one guy to the hospital to be tested for Meningitis and during that day 2 more were sent to the hospital for the Meningitis test. After many hours of tests and getting no answers I googled blue hole Jamaica bacteria and found many articles about warnings since November 2017.
I came across this article
https://www.ksat.com/…/local-newlywed-contracts-life-threat…
Elizabeth McAninch and her husband Chris traveled to Jamaica for their honeymoon. Chris died of Leptospirosis on Dec 23, 2017. That’s we finally realized they all had Leptospirosis - which is a bacterial infection that attacks your organs if not found and treated. Thankfully the Drs started my husband and his friends on antibiotics to be safe even before having the blood tests back.
Since this has all happened I have met a family from Florida whose Dad Robert Kuntz was there over Thanksgiving break November 2017 and early December became extremely ill. Drs diagnosed him with Leptospirosis ended up in the hospital for 45 days and in a coma for 2 weeks and met another family Michelle Warford from Canada who was there in January and their Uncle died Feb 22nd. Unfortunately it was too late by the time Drs realized he had Leptospirosis. All of these men visited the Blue Hole during their visits from November to February.
We all still love Jamaica but do not want to see any other family experience this horrendously painful sickness. The other battle we have had is convincing Drs in the USA and Canada that this infection is happening and they need to be more aware of the proper treatment. It’s simple treatment of doxycycline antibiotics. So if your planning to backpack be prepared. Educate yourself.
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Sharleen - 04-09-2018
It looks like this is Blue Hole in Ochi, not the one in Westmoreland
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147312-d1997485-r340577103-Blue_Hole-Ocho_Rios_Saint_Ann_Parish_Jamaica.html
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - daniel - 04-09-2018
scary !
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - JonTom - 04-09-2018
Scary indeed. And I think the advice to avoid (or at least be aware of the dangers of) swimming in any blue hole (or other water) after rains is still sound advice, regardless of the locale or country.
We actually did go to the Blue Hole and caves in Westmoreland (Petersfield area I think) more than 15 years ago.
When the guide invited us to dip into the water (for medicinal, or some therapeutic reasons) our "friend" held us back and said "no, stay out if it". I can't recall if there had been rains at that time. Perhaps he just wanted us to avoid the water in general.
(and I wrote "friend" because he is much closer to us now, years later, but at that time I'd say we were more like acquaintances on a friendly basis).
FWIW, I love walking barefoot in the sand, and did so in Culebra (off coast of Puerto Rico), despite knowing the isle has plenty of cats and there had been a recent rain storm. There were no cats (or hardly any people for that matter) near the beach, but I still came home with hookworm in my toe - nasty itchy stuff. I still walk beaches barefoot, but if I see cats/dogs, the sandals go on. Albeit reluctantly.
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Westenders - 04-09-2018
We went to blue hole out by Negril in October no problems.
The one at Ochi has 1000s of visitors every year.
Our friend died of leptospirosis last year who lived in Negril. No visits to blue hole.
I’m sure we have all swam in river water and not known what is in there. Is this another thing we should now be afraid of when visiting Ja.?!
I’m starting to wonder why we post all these depressing and negative things that are common in most countries.
If you read the Negril and Jamaica forums you would wonder why so many people go
Recent kafuffle on all forums about boats possibly being in the swim zone. But no hard evidence and loads of ooh haa and oh yes not to forget another thing to blame the Royalton for.
It be good if good news stories were posted too...before we kill off Jamaica ... with the old life fulfilling prophecy adage.
Can we take time to talk about all the good times we had / have and see in the media..
Yellow board is not so yellow lately
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - oldtimer - 04-09-2018
Here , in Nova Scotia ,I have my dog needled each year for this . The vet says it comes from raccoons that piss in a puddle and then some dog or cat licks at it . The Blue Hole in Brighton looked super clean to me as did the bar and bathroom . I know that you like Royalton but I think that most comments about it are just that , comments . I still can't figure where the white boats fit in Negril as an activity. Can the public get to where they are at Royalton without a day pass ???
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Westenders - 04-09-2018
You know OT, I’m not a big fan of the Royalton or AIs in general anywhere, however it’s been cheaper to stay in a AI from the UK than get flight and hotel separately. And people we travel with the last few times prefer AI.
In terms of AI the rius were equally as controversial and I would never pay say sandals or couples prices not ever. It’s priced very high to travel from here.
However I do think there is much ado about nothing....development is everywhere and i personally accept that rather than live in the past.
Personally I think point village wants pulling down and i think hedonism is an embarrassment but I don’t go on about it cos I accept we all like different things and leave it at that.
We get our knickers in a twist about change more than the locals...and then we all keep returning... reminds me of the definition of insanity.
My comments about the boats reference the many posts on all forums where they have been sighted by many but no one has stated categorically that they were in the no swim zones or acting irresponsibly .
It’s like Chinese whispers gone mad... with the photo shown now being cited as off of a Cuban forum lol ..and people such as yourself saying the saw them but not that they were acting in a way that caused danger. So what was the storm in a teacup about.?
We just can’t hate on everything that’s outside of our norm... and our norm is often worse in many ways
Back to this post, leptospirosis can be contracted in many places, which I only learned last year. Our friend died they think because rats had infested his food storage. My husband says rats in storage is common in ja, so do we not eat there ? None if us see food storage and prep. You just gotta live your life at the end of the day, or live in a bubble.
Totally unconnected but sorry to hear about the young hockey team OT, so sad.... it’s been covered quite a lot on the national media over here. It’s always harder when it’s the young ones
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Westenders - 04-09-2018
And no the public can’t get to the activities without a day pass. The security is very tight at Royalton and where the boats for the big red and snorkelling are are is the end if the beach where the public couldn’t pass to.
Many try to walk through to it but get turned back by security
Day pass we paid was 140 usd for am or pm. Not cheap
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - shipmaster - 04-09-2018
(04-09-2018, 10:51 AM)Westenders Wrote: We went to blue hole out by Negril in October no problems.
It be good if good news stories were posted too...before we kill off Jamaica ... with the old life fulfilling prophecy adage.
Can we take time to talk about all the good times we had / have and see in the media..
Yellow board is not so yellow lately
Thank you WestEnders!
C/S
RE: Leptospirosis - different groups of tourists all visited Blue Hole - Westenders - 04-09-2018
Thank you shipmaster
Something draws us all back there, but we often don’t talk about that