Norovirus responsible for most infection outbreaks in hospitals.

The Los Angeles Times (2/1, Stein) reports in its "Booster Shots" blog, "Norovirus took the top spot for infection outbreaks in U.S. hospitals from 2008 to 2009 and was responsible for most department closures as well," according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study found that "in the two years of the study there were 386 outbreak investigations that 289 hospitals reported." Of those, "four organisms caused the majority of outbreaks (almost 60%): norovirus, which causes severe gastroenteritis (18.2%), Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, a bacterium that can cause food poisoning, pneumonia and skin infections (17.5%), Acinetobacter spp, a bacterium common in hospitals (13.7%), and Clostridium difficile or C. difficile, a bacterium that can cause colon inflammation and diarrhea (10.3%)."