Seasonal increases in sporadic pediatric cases of norovirus gastroenteritis correlate with norovirus outbreaks among older populations, a new study found.
The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, analyzed seasonal patterns and genotypic characteristics of norovirus cases between December 2012 and June 2016 in middle Tennessee.
“Sporadic case surveillance and outbreaks followed very similar patterns geographically and temporally,” John R. Dunn, DVM, PhD, state epidemiologist with the Tennessee Department of Health, told Contagion®. “These commonalities in the different surveillance systems indicate that opportunities may exist to slow or prevent outbreaks when sporadic cases start to increase in the community.”
During the study period, 755 pediatric sporadic norovirus cases and 45 outbreaks involving 1924 people were reported.
The mean age of sporadic pediatric cases was 2.9 years, 81.3% were among children younger than 5, and 30% reported attending childcare facilities.
Among 740 outbreak cases with reported ages, 61.6% were in people older than 50, and 42% of outbreaks occurred in long-term care facilities. Childcare facilities and restaurants each accounted for 8.9% of outbreaks. Person-to-person transmission was reported in 80% of outbreaks and 8.9% were reported as foodborne transmission.
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