| Epidemiology of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks caused by Noroviruses in Okayama, Japan. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 16121370 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Noroviruses (called formerly "Norwalk-like viruses") cause food-borne gastroenteritis outbreaks. These outbreaks were thought to be related to shellfish consumption, although non-shellfish related outbreaks also occurred frequently in Japan. To clarify the epidemiology of Norovirus outbreaks, 435 stool samples were collected from 60 acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis outbreaks occurring over 8 years in Okayama, Japan. Using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), Noroviruses were detected in 257 cases (59.1% of all samples) from 46 outbreaks (77% of all outbreaks). The majority of the 46 Norovirus outbreaks (89%) occurred during November to March; notably one-third occurred in December. Restaurants, schools, and welfare institutions accounted for the major settings in 50%, 20%, and 15% of the Norovirus outbreaks, respectively. This was similar to other reports from Japan, but differed from those from the United Kingdom. The transmission routes were assigned in 27 of the Norovirus outbreaks. In 18 outbreaks the routes were related to human contact (7 from food handlers and 11 from person-to-person contact), whereas those related directly to shellfish occurred only in 9 outbreaks. These results suggest that transmission routes related to human contact are more important than recognized previously in the context of preventive medicine. Furthermore, all outbreaks in which some of the samples contained dual genogroups of Noroviruses were related to shellfish, suggesting that consumption of contaminated shellfish frequently results in mixed Norovirus infections in contrast to other transmission routes and that coexistence of genogroups is a useful marker for shellfish-related outbreaks. |
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Authors:
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Masako Hamano; Mitsutaka Kuzuya; Ritsushi Fujii; Hajime Ogura; Masao Yamada |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of medical virology Volume: 77 ISSN: 0146-6615 ISO Abbreviation: J. Med. Virol. Publication Date: 2005 Oct |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2005-08-30 Completed Date: 2005-10-19 Revised Date: 2009-11-19 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7705876 Medline TA: J Med Virol Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 282-9 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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(c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |
Affiliation:
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Department of Virology, Okayama Prefectural Institute for Environmental Science and Public Health, Okayama, Japan. masako_hamano@pref.okayama.lg.jp |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adolescent Adult Aged Aged, 80 and over Caliciviridae Infections / epidemiology* Child Child, Preschool Disease Outbreaks* Gastroenteritis / epidemiology*, virology* Humans Infant Japan / epidemiology Middle Aged Molecular Epidemiology Norovirus* / genetics |
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