The Burden of Infectious Gastroenteritis in Elderly Residents and Staff of Long-Term Care Facilities, Australia

Abstract

We estimated the incidence of gastroenteritis in 16 Australian long-term care facilities. During 12 months' surveillance, 245 (96%) of 254 episodes of gastroenteritis among long-term care residents were associated with 17 outbreaks in 11 facilities. Incidence in long-term care residents was 0.64 episodes per 1,000 bed-days (95% confidence interval, 0.29-1.42).