The Lancet Infectious Disease
Feb 2013  Volume 13  Number 2  p97 – 182
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

Editorial
The inexorable progress of norovirus
The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Preview
Perhaps because of its proclivity to cause outbreaks of explosive vomiting and diarrhoea that can sweep through closed and semiclosed communities (eg, hospital wards, schools, and cruise ships), norovirus is an infectious disease that attracts popular attention. Norovirus outbreaks can occur worldwide and all year round, although cases usually peak during the winter months, hence the name winter vomiting disease given to the illness caused by the virus. At the beginning of January, van Beek and colleagues warned of a worldwide increase in norovirus cases compared with previous seasons.