Guidelines for the management of norovirus outbreaks in acute and community health and social care settings

Laboratory testing should be considered in the following settings:

•    Testing of patients admitted with diarrhoea and/or vomiting ...
•    Testing of in-patients who develop sporadic diarrhoea...
•    In the context of an established outbreak, PCR testing of suspected new cases or atypical to inform IPC decisions may be useful...

The new guidelines make it clear that norovirus cannot be successfully managed in the so-called "Nightingale" wards where multiple beds are located in one room.  The spread of norovirus in such wards has frequently led to closures of entire hospitals in the UK.

Read more : http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317131639453