A cruise can be the perfect summer holiday. But cruise ships , with hundreds, even thousands of people in close quarters, can also be a hotbed of germs.

In particular, cruises are somewhat notorious for outbreaks of gastro. One study, which looked at close to 2,000 cruises docking in Sydney, found 5% of ships reported they’d had a gastro outbreak on board.

If you’re about to head off on a cruise, there’s no need to panic. There are some precautions you can take to give yourself the best chance of a happy, gastro-free holiday.

What causes gastro?

Viruses are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in Australia.…