Reevaluation of Epidemiological Criteria for Identifying Outbreaks of Acute Gastroenteritis Due to Norovirus: United States, 1998–2000

摘要

Background. Noroviruses are believed to be the most common etiologic agent of foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis, yet diagnostic tests for these agents are not readily available in the United States. In the absence of assays to detect norovirus, several clinical and epidemiologic profiles—the criteria of Kaplan et al. (vomiting in >50% of patients, mean incubation period of 24–48 h, mean duration of illness of 12–60 h, and no bacterial pathogen) and the ratios of fever to vomiting and diarrhea to vomiting—have been used to distinguish foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis caused by noroviruses from those caused by bacteria.