Involvement of workers in closed and semiclosed institutions in outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis due to norovirus
Parrón, Ignacio (Sub-Direcció Regional a Barcelona del Departament de Salut)
Barrabeig, Irene (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública)
Alsedà, Miquel (Generalitat de Cataluya. Departament de Salut. Sub-Direcció Regional a Lleida)
Cornejo-Sánchez, Thais (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron)
Guix, Susana (Universitat de Barcelona)
Jané i Checa, Mireia (Universitat de Barcelona)
Izquierdo, Conchita (Generalitat de Catalunya. Departament de Salut. Subdirecció General de Vigilancia i Resposta a Emergències de Salut Pública)
Rius i Gibert, Maria Cristina (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona)
Domínguez, Ángela (Universitat de Barcelona)
De Andrés, Anna (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Forns, Maria Lluïsa (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Bartolomé Comas, Rosa Maria (Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Date:	2020
Abstract:	Norovirus outbreaks frequently occur in closed or semiclosed institutions. Recent studies in Catalonia and various countries indicate that, during outbreaks in these institutions, norovirus is detected in between 23% and 60% of workers, and the prevalence of infection in asymptomatic workers involved in outbreaks ranges from 17% to 40%. In this work, we carried out a prospective study to investigate the involvement of workers in closed and semiclosed institutions during outbreaks. The attack rates (ARs) and the rate ratios (RRs) were calculated according to the type of transmission and occupational category. The RRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between workers and users were calculated. The mean cycle of quantification (Cq) values were compared according to the genogroup and the presence of symptoms. ARs were higher in person-to-person transmission than in common vehicle outbreaks, and 38. 8% of workers were symptomatic. The RR between workers and users was 0. 46 (95% CI 0. 41-0. 52). The ARs in workers were high, particularly in workers with closer contact with users. The mean Cq was lower in patients than in asymptomatic infected persons, although the difference was only significant for genogroup I (GI). The frequency of asymptomatic infected persons suggests that personal hygiene measures should be followed by all workers in the centers affected.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PI16/02005
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Acute gastroenteritis ; Closed institution ; Norovirus ; Outbreak ; Semiclosed institution ; Workers
Published in:	Viruses, Vol. 12 Núm. 12 (december 2020) , p. 1392, ISSN 1999-4915

DOI: 10.3390/v12121392
PMID: 33291823

11 p, 955.5 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles