Acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in Catalonia, Spain: norovirus versus Salmonella.

Objective. To describe the epidemiology of norovirus (NV) and Salmonella gastroenteritis outbreaks in Catalonia between 15 October 2004 and 30 October 2005. Material and methods. Epidemiological data were obtained from outbreak reports. The aetiologic agent was investigated by culture for enteric bacteria, enzyme immunoanalyses, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and molecular epidemiology genotyping for NV. The x 2 test was used to compare proportions. Incidence rates and their confidence intervals (CI) were calculated assuming a Poisson distribution. Results. A total of 225 acute gastroenteritis (AG) outbreaks were reported, with 3436 persons affected and 115 hospita…