An acute gastroenteritis outbreak caused by GII.P16-GII.2 norovirus associated with airborne transmission via the air conditioning unit in a kindergarten in Lianyungang, China

• Main Authors: Ting-lu Zhang, Jing Lu, Liang Ying, Xiao-lu Zhu, Lian-hao Zhao, Meng-ying Zhou, Jia-long Wang, Guo-cai Chen, Lei Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-12-01
• Series: International Journal of Infectious Diseases
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197121730259X

Noroviruses are a common cause of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in institutions including schools and kindergartens around the world. An outbreak caused by GII.P16-GII.2 norovirus in a kindergarten in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China is reported here. An epidemiological investigation was conducted, and pathogen detection was performed. The descriptive analysis indicated that this outbreak in middle class 1 had a point source. Twenty cases of acute gastroenteritis occurred in this class within a period of 8.5 h; the attack rate was 52.6% (20/38). Airborne transmission via the air conditioning unit in a confined restroom could have played a critical role in this outbreak. Sequence analysis of GII-positive samples confirmed that the norovirus GII.P16-GII.2 variant was the etiological agent of this outbreak. Keywords: GII.P16-GII.2, Disease outbreak, Epidemiological investigation, Kindergarten