Asymptomatic staff and patients can excrete norovirus strains different from the primary outbreak strain.
Asymptomatic norovirus carriage may hinder outbreak control; leaves open whether strain-specific screening improves management.
During an investigation of a hospital outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis identified as being caused by a recombinant genogroup II (rGII-3a) strain, fecal specimens collected from asymptomatic staff and patients were tested by nested PCR. A GII-4 norovirus strain, the predominant strain associated with outbreaks in hospitals over the last few years, was detected in 26 and 33% of asymptomatic staff and patients, respectively. No rGII-3a (Harrow/Mexico) norovirus strains were detected in the samples of asymptomatic staff or patients.
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Gallimore et al. (2004) studied this question.
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