title: [Outbreak of gastroenteritis at a home for the aged in Albacete].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We describe the investigation of an acute gastroenteritis outbreak with an explosive beginning, probably waterborne, that occurred in an nursing home in Albacete, in November 1999 and affected 104 inmates and 35 employees. The dominant symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study was designed. We carried out a descriptive analysis of facts and crossing of variables with the help of simple tables. A multivariant analysis, by models of logistic regression, was conducted both for the explosive phase and for that of transmission person-to-person.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The attack rate for inmates was 45.8% and for employees, 33.7%. An association was found between the use of the main dining-room of the nursing home and the explosive beginning of the outbreak and between the previous presence of a case-patient in the shared bedrooms and the person-to-person transmission. Norwalk-like virus was isolated from faeces samples of four cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis of the clinical and epidemiological findings as well as the laboratory results proved the implication of a Norwalk-like virus in this outbreak.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Epidemiología Aplicada de Campo, Centro Nacional de Epidemiología. jmmc@cica.es
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mayoral Cortes
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mateo Ramos
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pons Sánchez
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Herrera Calvet
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez Avila
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vivo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García Fernández
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Herrera Guibert
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martínez Navarro
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain
vernacular_title: Brote de gastroenteritis en una residencia de ancianos de Albacete.