Every year, throughout Germany, numerous outbreaks of illness in various communal facilities, such as homes for the elderly, hospitals and nurseries, are due to noroviral infections. The high rates of infection in communal facilities present a particular risk to the personnel and to the well-ordered running of the establishments. The major route by which the virus is spread is direct

person-to-person transmission. Noroviruses are mainly excreted in the human stool. Infections may also stem from contaminated food, beverages or objects and, as investigations have confirmed, from the hands.

The Robert Koch Institute anticipates that this winter will again see a massive number of cases of infection due to the highly contagious norovirus. Noroviral infection is notifiable, but by no means every outbreak is correctly diagnosed.

The norovirus (also known as the Norwalk virus) is extremely contagious. If an outbreak occurs, contact infections must be avoided by strict adherence to hygiene rules. The wearing of gloves and protective overalls is one of the most important protective measures. Rigorous hand disinfection is also very important. In this context, only certain products (e.g. Desderman® N) with confirmed efficacy against noroviruses may be used.

Onset of the illness is sudden, with severe vomiting and diarrhoea. Other symptoms are abdominal pain and headache. Fever occurs only rarely. Symptoms usually resolve after 42 hours at the latest. There is a maximum period of 3 days between contagion and the outbreak of the illness. The patient can infect others during the period of acute illness and for up to two days thereafter.