Norovirus gastroenteritis

Norovirus gastroenteritis
SpecialtyInfectious diseases
SymptomsFever, vomiting, non-bloody watery stool, tiredness,[1] muscle aches,[2] sometimes no symptoms[1]
ComplicationsDehydration[2]
CausesNorovirus[1]
TreatmentFluid replacement[1]
Frequency677 million cases, 213,000 deaths annually[1]

Norovirus gastroenteritis is a tummy upset caused by norovirus.[1] It presents as sudden vomiting, non-bloody watery stool, tummy ache, fever and tiredness.[1] There may be aching muscles, and signs of dehydration such as passing only small amounts of urine, dry throat and mouth, or feeling dizzy.[2] Infants under the age of one-year may have just diarrhea.[1] It typically lasts a couple of days, but sometimes there are no symptoms.[1]

The infection is highly contagious.[1] Infected people shed the virus in their stool and vomitus for up to 4-weeks and sometimes longer.[1] Spread from person to person occurs by direct contact via fecal-oral route or through contaminated water.[1] After ingesting the virus, it enters the enterocytes in the small intestine where it replicates.[1] The incubation period may be as short as less than 2-days.[1]

Globally there are around 677 million cases and 213,000 deaths annually.[1] The very young and very old are particularly affected more severely.[1] Death is more likely in over-65s.[1]

Signs and symptoms

It presents as sudden vomiting, non-bloody watery stool, tummy ache, fever and tiredness, typically lasting a couple of days.[1] There may be signs of dehydration such as passing only small amounts of urine, dry throat and mouth, or feeling dizzy.[2] Infants under the age of one-year may have just diarrhea.[1] There may be no symptoms.[1]

Cause and mechanism

Norovirus gastroenteritis is caused by noroviruses, a group of single-stranded positive-sense RNA, non-enveloped viruses belonging to the family Caliciviridae.[1] The infection is caused by norovirus and is highly contagious.[1] Infected people shed the virus mainly in their stool and to a lesser extent in their vomitus.[1] This can occur for up to 4-weeks and sometimes longer.[1] Spread from person to person occurs by direct contact via fecal-oral route or through contaminated water.[1] After ingesting the virus, it enters the enterocytes in the small intestine where it replicates.[1] The incubation period may be as short as less than 2-days.[1]

Epidemiology

It is a common cause of diarrhea globally, along with rotavirus, adenoviruses and astrovirus.[3] Globally there are around 677 million cases and 213,000 deaths annually.[1] The very young and very old are particularly affected more severely.[1] Death is more likely in over-65s.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Steele, Molly; Lopman, Ben (2020). "4. Pathogenesis and clinical features". In Melhem, Nada M. (ed.). Norovirus. Switzerland: Springer. pp. 79–100. ISBN 978-3-030-27208-1. Archived from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Norovirus Symptoms". CDC. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Barlow, Gavin; Irving, William L.; Moss, Peter J. (2020). "20. Infectious disease". In Feather, Adam; Randall, David; Waterhouse, Mona (eds.). Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine (10th ed.). Elsevier. pp. 529–530. ISBN 978-0-7020-7870-5. Archived from the original on 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
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External resources
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