Person-to-person transmission of norovirus resulting in an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis at a summer camp

摘要

A significant proportion of norovirus (NV) gastroenteritis outbreaks described in the Spanish literature have been because of contaminated food or water. This study describes an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis because of NV in which there was person-to-person transmission. A retrospective cohort study was carried out; we established the case definition for primary and secondary cases. An epidemiological survey was designed, including possible food exposures, and clinical and laboratory data. Water and stool samples were taken from affected individuals and food handlers. The presence of NV was detected using a reverse transcription-PCR assay. We analyzed the risk of gastroenteritis using relative risk and its 95% confidence interval as the measure of association, and estimated the basic reproductive number (R_O).