So, who likes tacos?
 

I'm suprised I haven't seen a thread about this (did several searches). But, I'm just waking up after leaving VCU early, due to food poisioning. I know I saw a lot of people getting sick after eating the tacos at the Science Museum, and 5 or so people on our team were up all night in the bathrooms (severe vomiting, etc.) -- two of which (me included) had to go to the hospital sometime around 1 am. We lost most of our operating team and even some backups! And I obviously couldn't do some critical programming in my condition. It was a very unfortunate situation, that at least hurt my team ...

So, how many of you have horror stories similar to this? Believe me, food poisioning is not a pretty thing ... and three people in 1 room with food poisioning ... well, you get the idea :o

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I guess it's assumed everyone knows about it...


I don't think it was food poisoning, it's something called the Nova Virus, it was on the news (us getting infected and all).


I think the majority of people who got sick were those who went to the school of engineering. I base this on the fact that one of our drivers went (the only one on the team who went) and he's the only one who got sick. It might've been the sandwiches they were giving out there. All I have to say is I am VERY glad I did not get it. He was hardcore about it too, he continued with us throughout the day, I think he threw up 8 times in total, it got to the point where he just laughed about it. We even brought a bag with us to the drivers station and I was drilled on how to operate the secondary controls in case I had to take control.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Everyone on my team ate the tacos and no one got sick, but none of us went to the school of engineering social, so maybe munkaboo is right.

But just to be safe, I won't go to Taco Bell for a few days until they find the true source

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Hell, I'm sick with the flu-like symptoms, and I didn't go to the Engineering thing. I think FIRST is going to have some bad problems with this.

Needless to say, I'm not a huge fan of the Baja Bean Company anymore.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

The verdict right now is that is a virus, not food poisoning. One of our parents got sick and Wetzel is sick, according to his brother, they are keeping him in the hospital overnight. To my knowledge, Wetzel did not attend the team social or the dinner at the engineering school. I suspect more people may get sick over the next couple of days, I know we saw a worker cleaning up a big mess as we left the competition to come home today...

Heidi

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I remember when I lived in Vegas I heard a story on the news where a lady ate a breakfast burrito at Taco Bell and there were cockroach eggs in it, (DOnt ask me how, i dunno, jus passin on info) One day her cheek started to swell, and get infected. Turns out, the eggs were maturing in her cheek. This lady was either a full out liar, or needs to learn how to figure out whether or not her food is actually food...i think most of us would be able to tell whether or not we are munchin on cockroach eggs. YUCK!!!!!!

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

That's an urban legend.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Please send Jeff my wishes for a speedy recovery.

In fact, I hope everyone is feeling better soon! Random illness, especially when you're away from home, is the worst.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I think it could be bioterrriorism with Alqeada trying to destroy AMERICA's FURTURE ENGINEERS!!!!! :ahh:

But, seriously I am sorry to hear about this happening to y'all. I know what a pain it is to have food poisoning ( or whatever it is) but that is just one person it gets absolutly nasty when a whole group gets it (but you all know that now...)

Could somebody put up a link of the news article I would like to find out more about what happened.

I wish you all a speedy recovery and hope you enjoyed VCU of what you could.

Vomitfest
 

A lady gathered info about the sick & distributed info about the hearty gastro-somthing virus that they suspect is causing the problem. It is fast spreading & she reccomended using the waterless hand sanitizer.....I ran across the street to the store as the Canadian team got the last bottle. lol

About a third of our team threw-up in the last 15 hours...fun trip home on the bus!

Otherwise the Regional was great!! Eliminations were exciting. Robodogs(435) got the well-deserved Chairman's Award & their advisor Debbie Kellogg got the Volunteer Award. The Killer Bee's (33) ball sucker & human player were not to be believed!

We didn't do as well as we'd hoped....but we'll get 'em at Chesapeake :D

Lisa T

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I heard taco...

But seriously though, that is pretty bad. Especially in the middle of a regional, that must have hurt a bunch of teams who ate the bad bunch of tacos. I would expect a n-gage to get people sick, but at a science museum, who would suspect a bunch of bad meat. Sounds like a fairly large portion of FIRST participants suffered some rather nasty stomach torture. That really sucks :(

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

10 of our 26 members got sick Friday night. We all went to the School of Engineering and to the Science Museum but not everyone got sick. We don't think it was the food anymore (sandwiches or tacos) because almost all of our team ate and everyone didn't get sick. And Sparky said that they had some people sick before we went to the museum. I think everyone being in the museum together helped spread it around. I never got sick but our shooter did. We kept moving our driver to different rooms to keep him from getting it and he never did.

Other than that, VCU was prety fun, except for the high-priced food...

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I remember last year when the SARS outbreak was making the news and I was wondering if it would effect the competition if it spread worldwide (thankfully, it never quite got to that level). Any kind of contagious illness at such a social event would be disaterous.
Hopefully this will be the last we see of something like this, and any, season.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Dam that is something for the Mythbusters to figure out.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

That same story is in one of the old "Scary Stories" books, but it was a spider, not a roach. I think the VCU stuff was a bug, but not a bug with legs if ya get what I'm trying to say.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I'm sorry for those who got sick. It seems to me after every regional alot of people get sick. Usually it is just the flu or the cold and not something this bad. But seriously, there is lots of human contact going on, and not as much hygene that should be going on. I'm often surprised that more people don't get ill.

I remember one year at Philly a bucket of cookie dough with spoons in it was making it way through the crowd. No one knew where it came from or where it started but most people took a bite and kept passing. Luckilly the community bucket of re-used spoons, raw eggs and sugar didn't make me or anyone i know sick, but you get the point.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Well, it seems the "outbreak" even made my local paper! Here's a link and text of the article, as it was requested.
---
(link only good for today, I believe)
Competing students sickened by virus

Daily Press

March 7, 2004

Fifty to 100 students participating in the NASA/Virginia Commonwealth University robotics competition were sickened in an outbreak of Norwalk virus infection.

The competition was Thursday through Saturday at VCU's Siegel Center in Richmond. Between 2,500 and 3,000 students and adults from the United States and Canada attended, said Jeff Seaton, the NASA Langley Research Center official in charge of the competition.

The Norwalk virus - which has gotten publicity in recent years as the cruise ship virus - is a highly contagious gastrointestinal illness that causes vomiting and diarrhea.

The Richmond Public Health Department identified it as the cause of the illness but could not determine where it started, Seaton said.

Saturday, health officials visited with the 62 teams at the competition and gave them advice on hand-washing, using hand sanitizers and avoiding physical contact, to curtail spread of the infection.

Some students were unable to complete the competition because of illness. Some went to a hospital for treatment of symptoms, Seaton said.

Among the competitors were teams from the New Horizons Regional Education Center in Newport News and from Gloucester and Mathews counties.

Several New Horizons students became ill, Seaton said. He didn't know if any of the Middle Peninsula students got sick.

WAVY-TV 10 contributed to this article.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Over here at 384, Sparky, some were sick before Friday. But by yesterday, members of our team, well actually a little more than half I would gather were running in and out of the arena to the bathrooms, or had upset stomaches. On Friday night, not long after the social, our arm operator, and I were both loosing our dinner, and Saturday morning around 5 am I decided I had had enough of the dry heaving, and I went the the hospital. They pumped me full of this fluid stuff, which knocked me out within 30 seconds of it getting in my blood stream, and gave me a shot, and this pill, I woke up 1 and 1/2 hour later, I was fine. It was insane, like there was nothing ever wrong, they gave me some food, I kept it down, in contrast to not being to even hold a sip of water a few hours earlier. But while I was there they took 4 test tubes full of my blood, and checked it. The results said there was no sign of any virus in my blood, but a bacteria or something that had been resulting in food posioning. Also if it was as contagious as they say it is, my parents would be sick as well, but they aren't.
Mr. Ivey

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

One of our members said our team was on the news and they said it was Norwalk too (the same station that contributed to the article above). It could have been. I think it becomes contagious after you get over it but I'm not sure.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Could everyone post a rough estimate of how many people on your team were sickened? The news said that 50-100 students became ill. That estimate seems low to me given all the people I talked to. I know we (401) sent 5 extremely sick students back to Blacksburg/Christiansburg at about 5 AM on Friday. 3-4 more students were ill but stuck around including our main driver. 3 of us collegiate mentors originally from Hampton Roads came down here to stay with our parents to recuperate. I know at least one more mentor became ill also, bringing our team's total to at least 12 (possibly more, I can home right after the tournament so I don't know if more eventually became ill). I heard Grundy (388) lost a bunch of people, 122 i know lost their driver and human player, anyways, if anyone wants to share about how many people on their teams were sick, i'd be very interested to know how many people really came down with it.

As for tracking down the source, I believe all of us on 401 who got sick had the sandwiches from the VCU college of engineering party, we went to the team social at the science museum also, but one of the mentors who became ill didn't eat anything, just had a single can of diet pepsi. If it was the Norwalk Virus though, I suppose it could have started from the food, and then been spread in the tight quarters in the pits and stands and from sharing bathrooms and drinking fountains with sick people.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Team 836 also got sick but we think it is a virus because they had a fever which is not a symptom of food posining, and besides three of the ones that got sick didn't eat tacos. Furthermore my mom says that there is a bad virus going around the south and i think we happened to get it.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

When all was said and done on Saturday, I reckon about 8 to 10 people from 384 were feeling some sickness, or were running to the porclen steering wheel.
ivey

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Luckily, 0 from my team were extremely ill, only maybe I had some problems, but probably not a virus or food poisoning.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

This is solid proof that EVERY team should have extra drivers and human players ready to go, just in case something like this occurs again...

I hope that everyone that got sick is feeling better soon. :)

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

hey im worth something... sorry to hear about all the teams that had a problem wiht the sickness going around

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I want to let everyone who got sick know how badly i feel for them, I too am infected... It has been a horrible few nights, and yesterday I was finally taken to the hospital coz i threw up on myself while sleeping. They did a whole bunch of stuff to me, most of which I cant remember(being totally exausted and sleepy at around 1 AM)...

Me and one of our drivers were doing some elimination of where this outbreak started and we also point straight towards the school of engineering , but We are sure it wasnt the food, but instead the drinks and the containers in which the drinks were kept in. We have vegetarian members who attended that social who did get sick, and we also have members who ate both types of sandwiches that didnt get sick... so it wasnt the meat, im thinking it was the ice/water that the drinks were kept in , the virus spreads from contact and then by mouth, and everyone was putting there hands in the containers of drinks, and then that same water remained on the top of the drinks when opened... this is my hypothesis on what spread the virus... where it originated, well anyone could have had the virus to start off with...

and as for the people at the science museum, well it was the infected people from the school of engineering who spread it again through the drink containers, coz everyone was putting there hands in that stuff... plus the virus doesnt show up for a minimum of 10-24 hours and we were sick within 2 hours of the second social, and our driver before the second social started....


thas my 10 cents

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I think they got their figures wrong, because there were about 10 people on our team who got sick in varying levels(from just feeling bad to heaving the entire night) which is about 50% of the people that went up there.

I'm really suprised that i didn't get it (knock on wood) because I went to the Engineering school (ate and drank), the team social (ate and drank) and i was in a room friday night with 3 people who were sick. I guess i just got lucky.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

About 13 out of 25 HS students on team 1002 were infected, with varying degrees of severity. I'm pretty sure I got the worst of it......I still havent eaten any solid food (been living off of ginger ale and such)

Also, several of our College mentors got sick as well as a couple of our adult chaperones/volunteers.

It was definately a virus (not food poisioning), and we ended up spraying nearly everything with lysol, and having eveyrone use hand cleaner. We had a "sick" portion of the bus and a well portion of the bus on the way back - not very pleasant on a bumpy 8+ hour trip back.

From what I've heard, it has a 12 hour incubation period (you dont start to feel any symptoms until at least 12 hours after you're infected), and you are contageous for up to 3 weeks after getting it. So, reminder to everyone, ALWAYS wash your hands well at robotics competitions! Keep in mind that several teams attend multiple regionals, and someone you see later on in the competition season could have been at VCU.

My sympathies go out to all who catch this virus, it is......aweful. Does anyone have a copy of the letter that was sent home with each team explaining the details of the virus, how to prevent catching it, etc, and could you post it here? I think it would be beneficial to do so.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

6 people from 122 got sick (including one of the teachers and the bus driver!). 2 started getting sick Saturay morning, and the number may well have increased after I left. There was another team staying at the Fairfield Inn with us, many of whom were sick -- I can't remember what team number, but I think the number of students sick was something like 9 out of 10 (now, this was during the weary hours just past midnight on Friday as I was somewhat married to the bathroom, so I hope the team will forgive me for not remembering their number ;)). I am somewhat suprised that the doctor in the emergency room diagnosed it as food poisioning, even giving us a prescription for it -- though from the level of attention and care he gave us in the empty hospital at around 2 am I can certainly understand how he made a mistake! This is the first I've heard of a letter ... I'd be interested to hear an account of what happened on Saturday -- how did all of this affect the other teams, was there any mention of it, etc.?

I was ill, and the stomach pain was so bad I left Saturday morning with my girlfriend to go home. Possibly because I have an old car with a shot suspension, I was in great pain after two hours and stoped at a hospital because of it. They gave me several bags of fluid and a percoset and I slept thought the night. I was able to keep fluid down today so they let me go home about 2pm.

I am now doing much better, still just on clear liquids though.

CDC FAQ Sheet

Wetzel

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

11 people on Friday night were sick, and by Saturday night we had about 3/4 of the team down. Oof. We blamed it on food poisoning at first as well, but apparently it's the virus...

We've got Nova yes we do!
We've got Nova how 'bout yooou? =P

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I feel terrible for all the people that were hit with this virus (especially the few like Wetzel, who were hospitalized). But I think everyone brought up a great point - we've got four more weekends of regionals to go, and we'll just keep spreading this from regional to regional if we don't take proper precautions. Everyone follow the links given, and please PLEASE be as careful as possible.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

We are thinking about handing out 'We Survived VCU' buttons at Nationals.

Here are some good things to remember and do this week at regionals:

-Wash hands before and after eating. Also after you sneeze or other thing like that.
-Use hand sanatizer like crazy.
-Wipe down tools that are used often with alcohol to prevent spreading
-Have human player use hand sanatizer after handeling balls.

I know these things are stupid, but somehow hygene dropps at robotics competitions. :)

Have fun guys. :)

Joseph 'Not Sick Anymore' M.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

The teacher that runs our team called everybody last night after the power came back on and told us not to go to school today. People from our team are still getting sick and we don't want to spread it to the whole school. Some of us haven't even felt any symptoms yet but we are probably still carrying it.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I was wondering if anyone knows what truck route number the VCU regional was. I was hoping that someone knows what route this is so we can warn the next regional the field goes to, even though its been cleaned once, we still can take precautions.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Here's an article about the danger of relying on hand santizers: http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/200...runc_sys.shtml

I guess it's a use at your own risk situation. I wonder how much of this was spread by buttons and duckies and trading cards and beads and what not being passed out... hmmm... not sick yet (well, at least not in that sense), so the buttons I handed out were clean...

Heidi

<=========>
I said, "darkness into darkness, all the carnage of my journeys
Makes it harder to be living;" he said, "it's a long road to be forgiven" -Indigo Girls

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I have buttons from nine teams plus beads from one of those and beads from another. I handled some ducks and other stuff but I still didn't get it.

I'm thinking that it was either spread at the engineering school Thursday night or at the competition Friday morning because it starting hitting most of our team around midnight Friday night. With at least a 12 hour incubation period it couldn't have been at the museum because two of our kids were beginning to feel it at the museum.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Well, FIRST has made an official statement on the VCU virus. http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/news/VCUstatement.htm

I am not sick yet even though I had a 10 hour bus ride with my team back to GA. All the sick people were put in the back of the bus near to the bathroom (About 15 of them..maybe more by now). My boss told me not to come in to work today. His exact words were, "DO NOT APPROACH THE BUILDING". :) I'll go back in tomorrow since its been 24 hours since I've been in contact with anyone that was sick.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

It was Truck #2, which I know was going to Orlando next, then Peachtree, and I can't remember the rest of the route after that. I think anyone else who gets this truck should be ok; besides the disinfecting, the truck is traveling for several days, the virus will not have a host, so it should die off.

Hope everyone is feeling better!

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

As far as I know, team 435 seems to have escaped the illness. None of our students or mentors got sick at the competition and I don't know of anyone getting sick after returning home. I hope all of you that got sick are feeling better.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Hey all,

Well, with respect to our team (#614), we lost (I believe) four students and I know one of my fellow engineers was affected later on Saturday as well. Like many of the teams, it's difficult to lose players without being affected somehow. It's a huge credit to those who remained that they did as well as they did under very difficult circumstances. Very unfortunate and most definitely not pretty (!), but congrats to the those who persevered and especially to those who made it to the finals. Looking forward to Annapolis which, for me, will be a taco-free zone :-)

Good luck to all at the next competition...
NightVisionGuy

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

For the sake of those students, I dearly hope you mean 4 students got sick, and I'm reading too much into "lost"!

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

After hearing the field is coming to UCF i red the FIRST statement and saw they said it was prob the norovirus and i dont want to get sick so i posted this in the ucf regonal thread and decieded to post it in here to

Well while talking about this with Nathan Pell(1083), we looked at the FIRST statement about the virus and they said it was prob the norovirus and so Nathan found a fact sheet about it and hear it is

facts on Norovirus

February 2004
Norovirus Fact Sheet
What are noroviruse?

Norovirus is a virus that causes the “stomach flu,” or vomiting and diarrhea, in people.

What are the symptoms of illness caused by noroviruses?

Norovirus illness usually begins 24 - 48 hours after exposure, but can appear as early as 10 hours after exposure.
Symptoms usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramping. Sometimes people have a low-grade
fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness is usually brief, with symptoms
lasting only 1 or 2 days.

How serious is norovirus disease?

Norovirus disease is usually not serious, but people may feel very sick. Most people get better within 1 or 2 days,
and have no long-term health effects from the illness. Sometimes people are unable to drink enough liquids to
replace what they lose from vomiting and diarrhea, and they can become dehydrated and need to see a doctor. This
problem usually occurs only among the very young, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.

How is norovirus spread?

Noroviruses are very contagious and spread easily from person to person. The virus is found in the stool and vomit
of infected people. People can become infected in several ways, including eating food or drinking liquids that are
contaminated by infected food handlers, touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus and then touching
their mouth before handwashing, or having direct contact with another person who is infected and then touching
their mouth before handwashing. Outbreaks also have occurred from eating undercooked oysters harvested from
contaminated waters - cooking kills the virus. Drinking water contaminated by sewage can also be a source of these
viruses. Persons working in day-care centers or nursing homes should pay special attention to children or residents
who have norovirus illness. This virus can spread quickly in these places.

How long are people contagious?

People infected with norovirus are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least 3 days after
recovery. Some people may be contagious for as long as 2 weeks after recovery. Therefore, good handwashing is
important. Persons infected with norovirus should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 3 days after
they recover. Infected people do not become long-term carriers of norovirus.

Who gets norovirus infection?

Anyone can become infected with these viruses. Because there are many different strains of norovirus, norovirus
infection and illness can re-occur throughout a person’s lifetime.

What treatment is available for people with norovirus infection?

Currently, there is no specific medication or vaccine for norovirus. Norovirus infection cannot be treated with
antibiotics. By drinking fluids, such as juice or water, people can reduce their chance of becoming dehydrated.
Sports drinks do not replace the nutrients and minerals lost during this illness.

Do infected people need to be excluded from school, work or daycare?

Since the virus is passed in vomit and stool, children should not go to daycare or school while they have diarrhea or
vomiting. Once illness ends, children can return to daycare, but handwashing must be strictly monitored. Persons
who work in nursing homes, take care of patients, or handle food should stay out of work until at least three days
after symptoms end.

Can norovirus infections be prevented?

You can decrease your chance of coming in contact with noroviruses by:
• Frequent handwashing with warm water and soap
• Promptly disinfecting contaminated surfaces with household chlorine bleach-based cleaners
• Washing soiled clothing and linens
• Avoiding food or water from sources that may be contaminated
• Cooking oysters completely to kill the virus

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

Yes, of course, sick ;)

Lost, as in, out of the competition. Sorry for the dramatics (!)

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

I believe that I read somewhere that the virus dies out without a carrier within 24 hours, so I don't think the components will be infected. They were thoroughly cleaning the parts, so I think it is more the people that were at VCU that you need to worry about.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

There were a couple of guys out from 308 and a couple of guys got sick from our team(33). In the hotel we were in (Crown Plaza) the whole 8th floor was under qurintine(i am good at math not english). I got sick because of to many KK. UMMM DOUGHNUTS. :cool:

Everyone is suggesting to wash havds and use sanitaizer and stuff like that but that could just make the thing worse because your body has no of the could germs and has no way of protecting it self. Still use the Hand sanitizer but don't overkill that may do more damage then help.

Re: So, who likes tacos?
 

[quote=Mike K]There were a couple of guys out from 308 and a couple of guys got sick from our team(33). In the hotel we were in (Crown Plaza) the whole 8th floor was under qurintine(i am good at math not english). I got sick because of to many KK. UMMM DOUGHNUTS. :cool:
QUOTE]

8th floor was where 677 was living. I was lucky and was in one of the few "healthy" rooms on the 8th floor...but yeah, it was goood stuff.