Nachamkin I, Richard-Greenblatt M, Yu M, Bui H. Reduction in Sporadic Norovirus Infections Following the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2020, Philadelphia.
Infect Dis Ther 2021;
10:1793-1798. [PMID:
34120315 PMCID:
PMC8197782 DOI:
10.1007/s40121-021-00473-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Norovirus infections are common in the USA and worldwide. Detection of norovirus in fecal samples is now common in routine tests for enteric pathogens using molecular methods. We observed a change in positivity rates for norovirus after the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in our laboratory and performed a more detailed analysis of testing results.
Methods
We reviewed the positivity rates for detection of common enteric pathogens from stool samples submitted to an academic medical center laboratory pre (2016–2019) and post the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020).
Results
In contrast to other enteric pathogens, norovirus positivity rates dropped dramatically from a yearly average of 3.9% in 2016–2019 to 0.76% from March 2020 through the end of 2020.
Conclusion
A sustained reduction in norovirus positivity rates was temporally associated with COVID-19 mitigation processes in the Philadelphia area, while positivity rates for other common enteric pathogens were only intermittently reduced.
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