Open AccessChanges in norovirus incidence in Victoria, Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020–2021
Author(s) -
Leesa D. Bruggink
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
communicable diseases intelligence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.616
H-Index - 6
ISSN - 2209-6051
DOI - 10.33321/cdi.2022.46.61
Subject(s) - norovirus , outbreak , incidence (geometry) , pandemic , genotype , covid-19 , virology , medicine , demography , biology , genetics , disease , physics , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , optics , gene
There were 142 norovirus positive outbreaks in Victoria for the 2020-2021 calendar years; however, almost half of these (48.6%) occurred in Q1 (January-March) of 2021. For the two-year period, 69.0% of all norovirus positive outbreaks were in childcare settings, and the predominant genotype was GII.P16/GII.2 (64.9%) followed by GII.P31/GII.4_2012 (20.9%). Norovirus incidence was particularly low in 2020 (n = 26) and close to average in 2021 (n = 116), but genotype diversity was low in both years. With the thought that 2022 will approach a more normal aspect to socialising and travel, norovirus incidence in 2022 may be predicted to increase above typical levels.