Detection of norovirus infections in Denmark, 2011-2018

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  • M. R. Korcinska
  • K. Dalsgaard Bjerre
  • L. Dam Rasmussen
  • E. Tvenstrup Jensen
  • T. Kølsen Fischer
  • A. Barrasa
  • Ethelberg, Steen

Norovirus occur very frequently yet are rarely diagnosed. In Denmark, norovirus infections are not under surveillance. We aimed to collect and describe existing laboratory-based norovirus data. National norovirus laboratory data were collected for 2011-2018, including information on patient identification number, age and sex, requesting physician, analysis date and result. We defined positive patient-episodes by using a 30-day time window and performed descriptive and time series analysis. Diagnostic methods used, were assessed through a survey. We identified 15809 patient episodes (11%) out of 142648 tested patients with an increasing trend, 9366 in 2011 vs 32260 in 2018. This corresponded with a gradual introduction of PCR-analysis in the laboratories. The highest positivity rate was in patients aged <5 years (15%) or >85 years (17%). There was a large difference in test performance over five Danish geographical regions and a marked seasonal variation with peaks from December to February. This is the first analysis of national norovirus laboratory-data in Denmark. A future laboratory-based surveillance system may benefit public health measures by describing trend, burden and severity of seasons and possibly pinpoint hospital outbreaks.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere52
JournalEpidemiology and Infection
Volume148
Number of pages7
ISSN0950-2688
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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