title: Role of the Hospital Environment in Norovirus Containment.
abstract: Norovirus is an important cause of gastroenteritis in healthcare settings; these infections occur frequently, are highly contagious, and can be difficult to control. Norovirus outbreaks were investigated during a 3-month enhanced surveillance period from 1 February to 30 April 2015 in 6 London, United Kingdom, hospitals (coded A-E). During this surveillance period, 1379 stool samples were tested for the presence of norovirus. Of these, 129 (9.4%) demonstrated the presence of norovirus RNA. Two of these hospitals (A and D) reported 0 outbreaks, 2 (hospitals C and F) reported 1 outbreak, 1 hospital (B) reported 2 outbreaks, and hospital E reported 16 norovirus outbreaks during this period. The hospital with a newer infrastructure (B), which reported 2 norovirus outbreaks, demonstrated that 7 bed-days had been lost over the 3-month period, compared with 512 bed-days lost by the hospital with an older, Nightingale-style infrastructure (E). Control measures included isolation, hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and rapid diagnostic testing. Our data suggest that outbreak control is more difficult to achieve in a hospital with Nightingale-style wards and limited isolation facilities.
authors.affiliation: Infection Prevention and Control, Bart's Health NHS Trust.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cummins
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Derren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ready
mesh_terms: D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D029322:Norovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
keywords: control; diagnostic testing; hospital; infection; norovirus