An epidemic of rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis in a nursing home for the elderly.
92 cases of acute gastroenteritis were registered among 256 individuals during an outbreak in a nursing home for the elderly, the majority of patients being between 70 and 90 years of age. Most cases appeared in 4 of the 8 wards; 66% of the inmates of these wards became ill. Characteristic symptoms were initial nausea and vomiting followed by diarrhoea and low fever. A number of patients were severely ill. One patient died. Rotavirus infection was diagnosed by virus detection and/or antibody titre rise during the acute phase of the illness in 13 of 16 patients examined. At the end of the outbreak, high titres of complement-fixing antibodies against rotavirus (greater than or equal to 64) were detected in serum from 21/22 patients convalescing from the disease, as compared to only 5/45 individuals with no signs of disease. It is tentatively suggested that the outbreak became extensive and rather severe because of lowered immunity against rotavirus infection among the elderly.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D012088:Reoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification
D000914:Antibodies, Viral