Norovirus

Question 1

What is the structure of norovirus?

Answer 1

It is a small, single-stranded, non-enveloped RNA virus.

Question 2

Which inflammatory infection is it often linked to?

Answer 2

Gastroenteritis.

Question 3

What are the methods of transmission?

Answer 3

Mainly through faecal-oral, but also through respiration.
Faecal-oral through contaminated food, person-person contact and through contaminated surface contact.

Question 4

What is the treatment of norovius?

Answer 4

There is no specific treatment, and so you can only treat supportively:
- Anti-pyretics.
- Rest with lots of fluid consumption.

Question 5

What are the symptoms?

Answer 5

Nausea and vomiting.
Diarrhoea.
Headaches.
Aching of the arms and legs.
Pyrexia, over 38 degrees Celsius.

Question 6

Why is norovirus a problem, despite the symptoms being relatively mild?

Answer 6

It is a highly infectious virus, meaning that it has a very high transmission rate.
It is frequently seen as a hospital-acquired infection, so the more vulnerable in-patients may be far more affected by it.

Question 7

How do you test for norovirus?

Answer 7

ELISA - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Stool samples.