Norovirus often finds itself in the spotlight when it is the cause of a food-borne disease outbreak on a cruise ship; however, norovirus can be found lurking just about anywhere.
With an estimated 20 million cases per year, norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the US, leading to 71,000 hospitalizations and 800 deaths.* The highly contagious virus is to blame for more food-borne disease outbreaks than Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria combined.
Unless norovirus is quickly contained, an outbreak can easily occur, especially in places where people are in close contact with each other, including hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and office buildings. While symptoms associated with norovirus infections are very unpleasant, these infections are typically self-resolving in immunocompetent individuals and the incubation period is usually only one to three days. However, in higher-risk patient populations, like the elderly and immunocompromised, a norovirus outbreak is more serious and can be associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
Verigene EP detects norovirus in just two hours, enabling clinicians to optimize management of patients quicker and allow healthcare providers to enact infection control measures in a timelier manner to minimize the chance of an outbreak.
