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Abstract
Ho MS, Glass RI, Monroe SS, Madore HP, Stine S, Pinsky PF, Cubitt D,
Ashley C, Caul EO. "Viral gastroenteritis aboard a cruise ship," Lancet, 1989, 2:8669 (Oct 21), 961-5
A 32-nm small round
structured virus (SRSV), possibly related
to the Snow Mountain agent (SMA), was implicated as the cause of
recurrent outbreaks of gastroenteritis on a cruise ship. There was no
identifiable relation to food or water consumption, but the risk of
gastroenteritis among passengers who had shared toilet facilities was
twice that of those who had a private bathroom and the rate of illness
was related to the number of passengers sharing a communal restroom
(ie, with one or more toilets): contaminated bathrooms may be an
important vehicle for person-to-person spread of this enteric agent. In
each cabin, index patients who had vomited in their cabins were more
likely to have had cabinmates who subsequently became ill than were
index patients who had not vomited. These epidemiological findings
implicate vomitus in the transmission of viral gastroenteritis and they
are consistent with the transmission of viral agents by airborne
droplets or person-to-person contact. New strategies for prevention of
viral gastroenteritis should include protection against environmental
contamination by viruses in airborne droplets or vomitus.
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