Trends of viral gastroenteritis in the Australian Capital Territory

Rotavirus, norovirus and adenovirus are common gastroenteritis viruses. To investigate trends of these viruses in the Australian Capital Territory, we analysed routine laboratory data and institutional outbreak data from 2003-2015. We found that after the introduction of rotavirus vaccination, there was a reduction in the proportion positivity in hospitalised cases and young children overall, but little change in cases referred by general practitioners. Proportion positivity of norovirus has been influenced by changes in testing methods and proportion positivity of adenovirus has decreased from the beginning of the study period, with peaks every few years. There were no trends identified in rotavirus, norovirus, and adenovirus outbreaks, but faecal testing during outbreaks has decreased over the study period. The results of this short report indicate that other interventions such as hygiene promotion and reinforced infection control could be targeted at young children, and testing of specimens in outbreaks should be a priority.