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03 December 2008

IDEIA kit allows rapid diagnosis of norovirus

As the ‘winter vomiting disease’ season begins, IDEIA Norovirus helps laboratories to quickly identify outbreaks.

Oxoid offers a convenient enzyme immunoassay for the rapid and reliable detection of norovirus, the virus responsible for ‘winter vomiting disease’.  IDEIA™ Norovirus provides sensitive and specific results in less than 2 hours, allowing outbreaks to be identified quickly and enabling appropriate measures to contain the outbreak to be initiated at the earliest opportunity.

Already, there have been several outbreaks of norovirus this winter, in the UK and abroad, affecting hospitals in Norfolk and Somerset^1,2, where wards have been closed to visitors and new admissions in an attempt to halt the spread of infection Norovirus has also been found on a cruise ship on the Rhine³, resulting in the hospitalization of elderly holidaymakers.

Norovirus is extremely infectious and can spread 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. Timely identification of the etiological agent, combined with appropriate infection control procedures, can help to reduce the impact of norovirus outbreaks⁴.

IDEIA Norovirus is quick and easy to perform, detecting norovirus directly in stool samples in less than two hours, and is suitable for manual or automated testing.  Such rapid and reliable results are of enormous value to those involved in the investigation and prevention of norovirus outbreaks, including microbiology laboratories, infection control teams, surveillance teams and cruise ship operators.

IDEIA Norovirus is one of a 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 can be performed individually or in a panel, using a single sample dilution.

For further information about the IDEIA Viral Gastroenteritis Panel (IDEIA Norovirus, IDEIA Rotavirus, IDEIA Astrovirus (Amplified) or IDEIA Adenovirus), please speak to your local Oxoid representative or telephone +44 (0) 1256 841144, email val.kane@thermofisher.com

References:

1. BBC News, 17 November 2008. Norovirus spreads to second ward http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7734298.stm
2. BBC News, 12 November 2008. Three wards closed by Norovirus http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7725805.stm
3. BBC News, 26 November 2008. Cruise Britons 'too ill for home' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7748776.stm
4. Lopman, B.A., Reaches, M.H., Vipond, I.B. et al (2004) Emerg. Infect. Dis. 10(10):1827-1834