Reader Poll Results: On my last trip I got really sick. After reading different symptoms, it may have been Legionnaires Disease. Talking to other people, about 25% had gotten sick in the last 2 years in Las Vegas, which makes me wonder whether the city's getting lax on proper handling of food, or cleaning and checking water sources. So my question is, "How many or you have gotten sick in the past few years when visiting Vegas and if so, with what?"
There was a database glitch yesterday, which caused the results of the previous Reader Poll, about buffet habits, to re-post. That problem has now been fixed, so you may view the results of the most recent survey, which we ran in answer to the reader suggestion above, inquiring about whether you'd ever gotten sick in Sin City.
We were very happy to see the results, and the fact that well over half the almost 2,000 respondents had never fallen ill in Las Vegas, or had suffered only from entirely self-inflicted symptoms, of the type caused by overeating or partying too hard. Meanwhile, we also received a lot of email feedback, a representative sample of which you may find reproduced below. We hope you're all feeling much better now and have learned some lessons to avoid any future repeat; we would be most intrigued to hear more from those people who claim to have been hit by the Vdara Death Ray, by the way...
"Came to Vegas for our first anniversary, we had our wedding there as well. Had a slight stomach ache that intensified while there. Ended up having emergency surgery at midnight on our anniversary. Missed 3 months of work but fully recovered with no long term effects. Have made quite a few uneventful trips to Vegas since and are coming back for our fifth anniversary this year."
"Necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating) on leg. Spent 16 days at Sunrise Medical Center. Eeuuww!!"
"I got sick of losing money."
"My late wife, who wasn't allergic to any of the weeds here in Illinois, was allergic to something in Las Vegas. She got well on the plane, and fortunately her symptoms never occurred again when we were back in Las Vegas."
"I visit Las Vegas 4 or 5 times per year. I always stay 5 nights but once a year my sister joins me and we stay 6 nights. Neither of us has ever gotten sick in Vegas and we've been doing this for over 25 years. I'm 65 and my sister is 66 years old. I wish my luck at the slots was even slightly as good as my Las Vegas health record."
"I seem to end up with 'Vegas Lip' within a day or two -- the condition by which your upper lip, having been subjected to the arid, air-conditioned, cigarette-infused air of Las Vegas, combined with excessive consumption of alcohol and/or other substances, dehydrates to the consistency of a flaky, shriveled raisin."
"The only conditions I ever suffered in Vegas was severe fatigue from sleep deprivation and sore feet. And diarrhea of the wallet :("
"I chose other. I have had sever allergy attacks (olive trees, Eucalyptus) and had to go to ER. I have been close to "frost bite" -lol- from the freezing temps in casinos, restaurants and our rooms (in May and Oct) the last couple years. We had a friends that had norovirus, he was in hospital and she wasn't able to leave their room. We were afraid to touch anything, it was interesting to see them washing the chips at the tables with bleach water spray and wiping each chip (so chips do get cleaned on occasion). Hubby and I both got the flu quite a few years ago, miserable but at least no hospital. Wish they had the packets of handiwipes still around at the casinos, to help keep germs at bay. Also, have to avoid Venetian & Palazzo due to their 'scent,' which sets off my allergies terribly.
"OMG. The dry desert is a sure way to get the ultimate hangover. Dehydration+alcohol= worse than flu. And since it's the infamous 'dry-hea,' you don't feel the normal warning: 'God, it's hot--I need water,' so you don't hydrate enough. I got a gout attack so bad my ankle gave out. If you must drink alcohol (and in Vegas, I must), alternate a full 8 oz. glass of H20 with each drink. That fixes it for me! No hangover since 2004!"
"I quite often get sinus infection when going to Vegas. I lay the cause to frequent altitude changes combined with ear popping and breathing the common air that we all breathe when flying. I live in North Maine, so we frequently have flights with multiple landings by the time we get there."
"I continually have a problem with Las Vegas water, so I use bottled water (from the 99 Cent Store) even to brush my teeth. I also suspect a lot of the salad bars use a preservative wash on their lettuce and fresh vegetables, because I consistently have stomach problems and I LOVE salad bars. I wish they would post it somewhere when they use these products e.g. "Stay White" and "Stay Fresh". I believe they are sulfite-based and cause me a lot of problems."
"I ended up with a Urinary Tract Infection. Spent 12 hours in the emergency room of UNLV Hospital. Tip to readers: If you ever need to go to an E.R. in Vegas, steer clear of this hospital."
"I usually get some sort of malady when traveling to Vegas. Often it is hiking-related (blisters or twisted ankle). I also usually have tummy trouble just from eating foods I ordinarily don't. Isn't that what vacation is all about?"
