Norovirus Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Norovirus Blog

The Treyarnon Bay area of North Cornwall (see lower left area on map) has an outbreak of sickness and diarrhea that has now been confirmed as Norovirus.

Since late July,  about 200 people have suffered symptoms in the area.

South West Peninsula Health Protection Unit, NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency are working together on the outbreak which has mostly affected people staying at vacation hotels, although no single source of the infection has been established.

The outbreak has been confirmed through laboratory testing as Norovirus, a common stomach bug causing an illness which usually only lasts a day or two clearing up by itself.
 

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Tobacco could get a whole new reputation as science turns to the lowly plant as the source for a new vaccine to stop the dreaded Norovirus.

Also known as the cruise ship virus, Norovirus is responsible for the sudden onset of diarrhea and vomiting. In addition to cruise ships, it often strikes hotels, nursing homes and colleges.

A new vaccine is unique in its origin as it was made in a tobacco plant using an engineered plant virus. Scientists are using plants in the battle against norovirus, swine flu, bird flu, and other infectious diseases, said Dr. Charles Arntzen, speaking Tuesday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Norovirus, like the flu virus, is constantly changing, which has made creating a vaccine for it challenging for pharmaceutical companies, Arntzen said.

“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza virus has once again reminded us of the ability of disease-causing agents to mutate into new and dangerous forms,” he said in a news release.

The norovirus will continue to evolve into new strains, so Arntzen’s team designed a vaccine manufacturing process quick enough to keep up with it and other shape-shifting viruses, he said.

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Managers of institutions like the Emeritus Pavilion at Crossing Point in Orlando will breathe a sign of relief this year when mass illness turns out to be ordinary norovirus and not Swine Flu.

The Emeritus Pavilion--a multi-story facility for both independent  and assisted living—however still finds itself in the middle of a mini quarantine with visitors being turned away with as many as ten residents are recovering from gastrointestinal problems including vomiting and diarrhea.

The outbreak is being investigated by the Orange County Health Department, which is collecting food and stool samples at the nursing home.   Health inspectors and staff are being allowed to come and go from the facility

Swine Flu has been ruled out as the cause of the illnesses.   The Health Department suspects Noroviruss, which can come on quickly.

The Emeritus Pavilion offers both Alzheimer’s care and respite care during short term stays. 

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A study by the University Hospital in Albacete, Spain finds that noroviruses were the principal definable causes of foodborne illnesses.  

Norovirus commonly causes pediatric diarrhea in the region of Spain where the hospital is located. The study found the role of noroviruses in mixed infections requires additional study.

Three years of data, covering 2005-08, shows norovirus was the second most common agent implicated in acute sporadic episodes of gastroenteritis in children under age 5 who required hospitalization.

“Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of norovirus severe infection in children are not so well established and identifying the clinical profile of this infection would be useful because of the absence of rapid and widely-available detection methods in clinical laboratories, “ says the study report.

Norovirus was detected in 17.3 percent of the 221 study participants. Some of the characteristics researchers noted include:

• Norovirus was present in 52.5 percent of 32 patients with mixed infections and was identified as the single etiological pathogen in 8.2 percent.
• The most common symptoms were vomiting and fever.
• The typical hospital stay was 3.5 days.
• Norovirus affected mostly children under age 2.

More can be found in Infectious Diseases in Children.

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