An outbreak of norovirus infection in an Italian residential-care facility for the elderly.
On December 2006, an outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred at a residential-care facility for the elderly in northern Italy. Thirty-five of 61 individuals interviewed (attack rate, 57.4%) fell ill. In 94.3% of cases, the onset of illness was within 48 h of a Christmas party at the facility. Norovirus (NoV) was detected by RT-PCR in 24 of 31 individuals examined, including three asymptomatic food-handlers, in whom there was evidence of long-lasting excretion of viral particles. The identification of a sequence referring to the '2006a GII.4 NoV variant' in all examined strains supported the hypothesis of a common point source. This retrospective cohort study is the first report on an outbreak of NoV gastroenteritis in an Italian residential-care facility for the elderly.
Medici
M C
MC
Section of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University Medical School, Parma, Italy. mariacristina.medici@unipr.it
Morelli
A
A
Arcangeletti
M C
MC
Calderaro
A
A
De Conto
F
F
Martinelli
M
M
Abelli
L A
LA
Dettori
G
G
Chezzi
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D029322:Norovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017201:Virus Shedding
D014764:Viral Proteins