 Norovirus, an RNA virus of the Caliciviridae family, causes approximately 90% of epidemic non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world, and is responsible for the majority of all foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the United States. Norovirus affects people of all ages, and the virus is typically transmitted by contaminated food or water and by person-to-person contact.
Outbreaks of norovirus disease often occur in closed or semi-closed communities, such as schools, day care facilities, long-term care facilities, hospitals, prisons, dormitories, and cruise ships where once the virus has been introduced, the infection spreads very rapidly. In large cities such as New York and Boston, emergency department visits due to norovirus in the winter months can number as many as 500 per day. Although norovirus can be killed by chlorine-based disinfectants, it is less susceptible to alcohols and detergents that are typically used for cleaning.
This widespread infection is increasingly being recognized to cause serious medical complications in vulnerable populations such as young children and the elderly. In some cases, especially where underlying medical conditions exist, complications from norovirus infection can include death.
LigoCyte has developed a vaccine against norovirus and is currently testing the product in human clinical trials. This product is the only clinical-stage vaccine against norovirus in the world. LigoCyte’s vaccine is a dry powder, intranasal vaccine that is designed to induce a strong immune response in gastrointestinal tissues where the virus grows. Click Here to download a summary of LigoCyte’s norovirus vaccine. |
