Kit Allows Rapid Diagnosis of Norovirus

An enzyme immunoassay rapidly detects Norovirus, the virus responsible for "winter vomiting disease.” The assay is sensitive, and specific results are available in less than 2 hours, allowing outbreaks to be identified quickly, and enabling measures to contain the outbreak to be initiated as soon as possible.

Called IDEIA (ID enzyme immunoassay) Norovirus, the assay is easy to perform, and detects Norovirus directly in stool samples. It is suitable for manual or automated testing. The rapid and reliable results are of great value to those involved in the investigation and prevention of Norovirus outbreaks, including microbiology laboratories, infection control teams, surveillance teams, epidemiologists, and cruise ship operators.

Norovirus is extremely infectious and spreads rapidly throughout an institution. It is particularly common in semi-closed environments, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and cruise ships, where there is a high concentration of people who are susceptible to infection, namely children, the elderly, and those with underlying disease.

IDEIA Norovirus is one of Oxoid's (Basingstoke, UK) range of IDEIA kits for the detection of the four leading causes of viral gastroenteritis: Norovirus, Rotavirus, astrovirus, and adenovirus. Each kit follows a similar protocol and each can be performed individually or in a panel, using a single sample dilution.

There were several outbreaks of Norovirus this winter (2008-2009), in the United Kingdom affecting hospitals in Norfolk and Somerset, where wards were closed to visitors and new admissions in an attempt to halt the spread of infection. Norovirus was also found on a cruise ship on the Rhine River (Europe), resulting in the hospitalization of elderly holidaymakers.

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