An increasing number of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks have been reported in the Netherlands since October 2004 to the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM, the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment). The early onset of the "winter vomiting disease" season and the high number of reports are unusual. Outbreaks have been reported from different settings, most of which are institutional. So far, all of the outbreaks for which the diagnostic evaluation has been completed are caused by norovirus. This situation may be indicative of a wider trend as several countries have reported higher incidences recently through the global electronic reporting system ProMED-mail (http://www.promedmail.org). (Introduction)
Auteur : Kroneman A, van Duijnhoven Y, Duizer E, Koopmans M
Eurosurveillance, 2004, vol. 8, n°. 52
