Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Norovirus, commonly referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis (inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract) worldwide. It is the second-most common illness in Canada, second only to the common cold. The disease is highly infectious, requires a low infectious dose, and is well-known to cause large outbreaks in closely confined populations. While deaths are rare, hospitalization and long-term effects on the body are more likely to occur in at-risk populations, such as the elderly or immunocompromised. Action to reduce the number of norovirus cases per year is required due to its infectious nature and effect on the economy; the economic burden is high due to hospital expenditures and lost productivity. It is estimated that norovirus costs the United States 2.5 billion CAD and the United Kingdom close to 200 million CAD per year in health care costs. While laboratory surveillance is practiced in Ontario to detect norovirus outbreaks, early detection remains a challenge. This project aims to utilize syndromic surveillance using TeleHealth Ontario data in order to create an early warning system of norovirus outbreaks.