A patient comes to your clinic with a complaint of multiple episodes of loose watery stool for 3 days. On probing, you discover that these episodes sta after he had ingested shellfish at a local restaurant 3 days back and other people who had food from that restaurant had similar symptoms. What is the most common cause of viral diarrhoea in adults?

Explanation

Ans: D. NorovirusRef Harrison 19/e p1285, 1286; Jawetz 27/e p537History of multiple episodes of loose watery stool for 3 days & history of ingestion shellfish with similar symptoms in other patients who consumed the shellfish is suggestive of acute viral gastroenteritis.Most likely organism responsible - Norovirus.Noroviruses:Most common infectious agents of mild gastroenteritis in the community and affect all age groups, whereas sapoviruses primarily cause gastroenteritis in children.