engleski

Norovirus outbreaks in 2019: Results of Croatian Institute of Public Health

Norovirus is an important cause of non- bacterial gastroenteritis. Norovirus infects hosts of all ages and can cause large outbreaks in closed settings. Person-to-person transmission is essential in endemic cycle. Besides humans, norovirus can infect a range of different animals (e.g. pigs, cattle and mice). Therefore, zoonotic transmission of the infection is possible, indirectly, through contaminated food and water as vehicles, or directly, through animal contact. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of noroviruses in patients with gastroenteritis. The studied population included 107 patients aged from 4 months to 97 years (median age: 28 years) with clinical symptoms of gastroenteritis. Stool specimens from each patient were tested by using rapid immunochromatographic tests for rotavirus, adenovirus (Rota- AdenoGnost, BioGnost, Zagreb) and norovirus (Norovirus, Biognost, Zagreb), respectively according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. The overall prevalence rates for norovirus, rotavirus and adenovirus were 13.1%, 1.9% and 0.9%, respectively. Out of 14 documented norovirus infections, 2 (14.3%) were sporadic cases and 12 (85.7%) cases were identified as norovirus outbreaks in closed settings: 5 (35.7%) as nosocomial infections and 7 (50%) cases in a child care facility. The first outbreak occurred in March in a hospital setting, and the child care facility outbreak occurred in May. All 5 nosocomial norovirus infection and 1/7 cases in the child care facility occurred in adults. These findings highlight the importance of an early detection of norovirus cases for preventing the spread of the infection by implementing appropriate hand hygiene, environmental disinfection and isolation of the infected person in high-risk closed settings (e.g. healthcare). Our data also showed that norovirus is an important pathogen in children and, therefore, norovirus detection should be routinely preformed in children with gastrointestinal infections.

norovirus ; outbreaks ; Croatia

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