Food Poisoning Bulletin
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study that looked at a substantial increase in novovirus illnesses in northern New England. Researchers looked at long-term care facilities in that area, trying to identify institutional risk factors for norovirus outbreaks. State health departments in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont used surveys, collecting information about facility attribvutes, routine staff use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer versus soap and water, facility cleaning practices, and occurrence of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks from December 2006 to Amarcy 2007.
Norovirus outbreaks peak in the winter months, when people are forced to spend more time together. Cruise ships, hospitals, and nursing homes usually suffer outbreaks because of the proximity of patients. The virus is extremely contagious and people can become infected through food and drink, person-to-person, and by touching contaminated surfaces.
The surveys found that of the 91 facilities that responded, 61 reported 73 outbreaks in that time frame. Of those outbreaks, 29 were confirmed norovirus. And facilities where staff were “equally or more likely to use alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) than soap and water for routine hand hygiene had higher odds of an outbreak than facilities with staff less like to use ABHS.”
Posted in Food Hygiene, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Food Virus, Hygiene, Methods, Microbiology, Norovirus, Pathogen, Research
Tagged environment, hand hygiene, hand sanitizer, science
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