Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Publication Info
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An Outbreak of Norovirus Infection in a Long‐Term‐Care Unit in Spain
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Abstract(back to top)
BACKGROUND. Norovirus belongs to the Caliciviridae family and causes outbreaks of infectious enteritis by fecal–oral transmission. In Spain, there have been few outbreaks reported due to this virus. We describe an outbreak on a long‐term–care hospital ward.
METHODS. Cases were classified as probable, confirmed, and secondary. Stool cultures were performed. Polymerase chain reaction detection of norovirus was also performed.
RESULTS. The outbreak occurred from December 7 to 28, 2001, involving 60 cases (32 patients, 19 staff members, 8 patients’ relatives, and 1 relative of a staff member). Most (82%) of the cases were female. The most frequently involved ages were 20 to 39 years for staff members and 70 to 89 years for patients. The incubation period of secondary cases in patients’ families had a median of 48 hours (range, 1 to 7 days). Clinical symptoms included diarrhea (85%), vomiting (75%), fever (37%), nausea (23%), and abdominal pain (12%). Median duration of the disease was 48 hours (range, 1 to 7 days). All cases resolved and the outbreak halted with additional hygienic measures. Stool cultures were all negative for enteropathogenic bacteria and rotaviruses. In 16 of 23 cases, the norovirus genotype 2 antigen was detected.
CONCLUSIONS. This outbreak of gastroenteritis due to norovirus genotype 2 affected patients, staff members, and their relatives in a long‐term–care facility and was controlled in 21 days.
Bibliographic Information(back to top)
- An Outbreak of Norovirus Infection in a Long‐Term‐Care Unit in Spain
- Gemma Navarro , PhD, Rosa M. Sala , MD, Ferran Segura , PhD, César Arias , MD, Esperanza Anton , MD, Pilar Varela , MD, Pilar Peña , MD, Teresa Llovet , PhD, Isabel Sanfeliu, Maria Canals , RN, Guadalupe Serrate , MD and Antonio Nogueras , MD
- Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
- Vol. 26, No. 3 (March 2005) (pp. 259-262)
Notes and References(back to top)
This item contains 1 note(s).
Notes
Drs. Navarro, Segura, Anton, Varela, Peña, Serrate, and Nogueras, Ms. Sanfeliu, and Ms. Canals are from the Corporació Parc Taulí, Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain. Drs. Sala and Arias are from the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of Central Region, Department of Health and Social Security, Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Llovet is from the Hospital Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.Address reprint requests to Gemma Navarro, PhD, Unitat d’Epidemiologia I Avaluacio, Corporacio Parc Tauli, Parc Tauli s/n, 08208 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain. gnavarro@cspt.es Supported in part by Red Española de Investigación en Patologia Infecciosa (REIPI‐C03/14).
Items Citing this Item (back to top)
2 item(s) in JSTOR cite this item
- Taranisia MacCannell PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH, Craig A. Umscheid PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH, Rajender K. Agarwal PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH, Ingi Lee PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH, Gretchen Kuntz PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH, Kurt B. Stevenson PhDMScMDMSCEMDMPHMDMSCEMSWMSLISMDMPH,Vol. 32, No. 10 (October 2011) pp. 939-969Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/662025
- Suzanne F. Bradley , MDVol. 26, No. 3 (March 2005) pp. 227-230Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502531