What are the symptoms of norovirus infection?

Introduction

Norovirus infection is a leading cause of gastroenteritis, characterized by symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. It is highly contagious and can cause outbreaks in various settings.

Key Insights from Research Papers

Symptoms of Norovirus Infection:
- Sudden onset of diarrhea and/or vomiting, lethargy, headache, abdominal discomfort, nausea, anorexia, and fever, typically resolving within 72 hours.
- In children, norovirus can cause convulsions, with a higher incidence compared to rotavirus, but long-term neurological sequelae are uncommon.
- Chronic infection in immunocompromised individuals, such as renal transplant recipients, can lead to persistent symptoms like abdominal discomfort, fever, and weight loss.
Age-Related Symptom Variation:
- Vomiting is more common in younger patients, while diarrhea is more prevalent in older individuals.
- The incidence of fever is higher in patients infected with genogroup II noroviruses compared to genogroup I.
Duration and Severity of Symptoms:
- Norovirus symptoms are generally mild and self-limiting, lasting 1-3 days, with severe cases being rare and typically occurring in the elderly or those with pre-existing conditions .
- Hospitalization due to norovirus may result in longer stays compared to rotavirus, indicating potentially more severe symptoms.
Asymptomatic Infections:
- Norovirus infections can be asymptomatic, with individuals still shedding the virus.
- Symptomatic individuals exhibit greater immune system activation compared to asymptomatic individuals, but viral burden does not differ significantly between the two groups.

Conclusion

Norovirus infection commonly presents with acute gastroenteritis symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, which are self-limiting and resolve within a few days. Children may experience convulsions, and symptom severity can vary with age. Chronic and asymptomatic infections occur, particularly in immunocompromised individuals, with the latter still capable of viral shedding. Overall, norovirus is a significant cause of gastroenteritis with a range of clinical manifestations.

What are the symptoms of norovirus infection?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights from Research Papers

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Norovirus infection as a cause of diarrhea-associated benign infantile seizures.

Norovirus infection is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in children and can cause convulsive disorders, particularly in young infants, but long-term neurological sequelae are uncommon.

Chronic norovirus infection in renal transplant recipients.

Norovirus can cause both asymptomatic and symptomatic chronic infection in renal transplant recipients, with virus elimination requiring reduced immunosuppression in symptomatic cases.

Outbreak studies of a GII‐3 and a GII‐4 norovirus revealed an association between HBGA phenotypes and viral infection

Norovirus infection is associated with HBGA phenotypes, with secretor status strongly associated with infection in both GII-3 and GII-4 outbreaks, and nonsecretor phenotypes showing natural resistance.

Noroviruses: State of the Art

Noroviruses cause self-limited gastroenteritis, with histoblood-group antigen expression being a key susceptibility factor, and current treatment and prevention strategies rely on non-specific measures.

A large outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis linked to a catering company, New South Wales, October 2003.

Noroviruses cause large outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease in humans, with symptoms typically starting 12–36 hours after infection and resolving within 72 hours.

The epidemiologic and clinical importance of norovirus infection.

Noroviruses are a major cause of gastroenteritis in all age groups, with molecular diagnostic assays increasing recognition of their significance.

Norovirus in symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals: cytokines and viral shedding

Symptomatic individuals show greater immune system activation, but do not have a greater viral burden, suggesting symptoms may be immune-mediated in norovirus infection.

Norovirus and sapovirus

Norovirus and sapovirus cause mild, self-limiting gastroenteritis with faecal-oral transmission, and can be found in aquatic samples, sewage, effluent, river, seawater, and bottled mineral water.

Infection characteristics of patients in acute gastroenteritis outbreaks caused by noroviruses

Noroviruses mainly infect children under 12 years old in acute gastroenteritis outbreaks, with vomiting being the most common symptom and the incidence of vomiting and diarrhea correlated with age, with genogroup II having a higher fever incidence rate than genogroup I.

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Norovirus

Noroviruses cause mild, self-limiting symptoms, with transmission through faecal-oral, person-to-person, or common sources, and can persist in the environment through sewage, effluent, river, and sea water.

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