National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin 2020 to 2021: management information
Summary of norovirus and rotavirus laboratory surveillance and enteric virus outbreaks in hospital and community settings in England, December 2020 to September 2021.
This bulletin provides an overview of norovirus and rotavirus activity in England during the 2020 to 2021 season and the beginning of the 2021 to 2022 season. It is published fortnightly during the winter, monthly during the summer and temporarily replaces the Official Statistics national norovirus and rotavirus report.
The data presented are derived from 4 national Public Health England (PHE) surveillance systems, including laboratory surveillance of norovirus and rotavirus, enteric virus (norovirus, rotavirus, sapovirus and astrovirus) outbreaks in hospital and community settings, as well as molecular surveillance data on circulating strains of norovirus.
Many of the interventions implemented to reduce coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission, isolation of sick individuals, increased hand washing and enhanced environmental cleaning, are also effective against norovirus and rotavirus. Therefore, during 2020 and into the first half of 2021 it is likely that these interventions contributed to a reduction in norovirus and rotavirus transmission. However, there are other contributory factors such as – but not limited to – changes in ascertainment, access to health care services and capacity for testing. Therefore, this bulletin summarises the surveillance data held by PHE and does not provide an in-depth interpretation relative to previous seasons as the Official Statistics national norovirus and rotavirus report has done in the preceding seasons.
The Official Statistics report is currently suspended due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sampling and testing for enteric viruses and the reporting of these results to PHE. This variation in ascertainment mean it is not possible to ensure the accuracy and consistency of these data with previous seasons and therefore, any apparent trends should be interpreted with caution.
All surveillance data included in this report are extracted from live reporting systems, are subject to a reporting delay and the number reported in the most recent weeks may rise further as more reports are received. Therefore, data pertaining to the most recent 2 weeks are not included.
If you have any comments or queries please email NoroOBK@phe.gov.uk
Updates to this page
Last updated 9 September 2021 + show all updates
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 34.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 30.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 26.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 21.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 17.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 13.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 11.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 9.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 7.
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Added week 3 report.
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Added National norovirus and rotavirus bulletin: week 1.
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Added week 52 report.
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First published.