TY - JOUR
T1 - A large-scale gastroenteritis outbreak associated with Norovirus in nursing homes
AU - Calderon-Margalit, Ronit
AU - Sheffer, R.
AU - Halperin, T.
AU - Orr, N.
AU - Cohen, D.
AU - Shohat, T.
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - An increase in gastroenteritis outbreaks due to Norovirus has been reported worldwide. We investigated a large-scale outbreak affecting 246 residents and 33 staff members in six nursing homes in the Tel-Aviv district, Israel, during 3 weeks in 2002. Person-to-person spread was noticed in all nursing homes. The spread of disease could not be attributed to social interactions. Among the elderly residents, the hospitalization rate was 10.2% and the case-fatality rate was 2.0%. Bacteriological cultures were negative. Overall, 7 out of 15 stool specimens were positive for Norovirus by RT-PCR. All were sequenced and found to be 90% identical. The characteristics of this outbreak and the RT-PCR results suggest that illness was caused by Norovirus. Due to the high case-fatality rate of Norovirus gastroenteritis, there should be a high index of suspicion when encountering a gastroenteritis outbreak among the elderly. This will enable prompt action to stop the spread of illness.
AB - An increase in gastroenteritis outbreaks due to Norovirus has been reported worldwide. We investigated a large-scale outbreak affecting 246 residents and 33 staff members in six nursing homes in the Tel-Aviv district, Israel, during 3 weeks in 2002. Person-to-person spread was noticed in all nursing homes. The spread of disease could not be attributed to social interactions. Among the elderly residents, the hospitalization rate was 10.2% and the case-fatality rate was 2.0%. Bacteriological cultures were negative. Overall, 7 out of 15 stool specimens were positive for Norovirus by RT-PCR. All were sequenced and found to be 90% identical. The characteristics of this outbreak and the RT-PCR results suggest that illness was caused by Norovirus. Due to the high case-fatality rate of Norovirus gastroenteritis, there should be a high index of suspicion when encountering a gastroenteritis outbreak among the elderly. This will enable prompt action to stop the spread of illness.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=14044278033&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0950268804003115
DO - 10.1017/S0950268804003115
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AN - SCOPUS:14044278033
SN - 0950-2688
VL - 133
SP - 35
EP - 40
JO - Epidemiology and Infection
JF - Epidemiology and Infection
IS - 1
ER -
