title: A large outbreak of gastroenteritis associated with a small round structured virus among schoolchildren and teachers in Japan.
abstract: In March 1989 a large outbreak of acute gastroenteritis occurred simultaneously among schoolchildren and teachers at nine elementary schools in Toyota City, Japan. Illness was observed in 3236 (41.5%) of 7801 schoolchildren and 117 (39.4%) of 297 teachers. The main clinical symptoms were diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Gastroenteritis was significantly associated with the consumption of school lunch served by one particular lunch preparation centre. One food handler at the centre suffered from gastroenteritis during the outbreak. Small round structured virus (SRSV) was detected in 4 of 8 stool specimens from sick persons. The school lunch contaminated by the infected food handler is the most probable source of this outbreak due to SRSV.
authors.affiliation: Aichi Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Nagoya, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakae
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nishio
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Isomura
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003967:Diarrhea; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005178:Faculty; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005511:Food Handling; D005522:Food Services; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea; D012574:Schools; D014771:Virion / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014839:Vomiting