The epidemiology of Norovirus in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region: a systematic review

Norovirus (NoV) is considered the second leading cause of viral acute gastroenteritis (AGE). To our knowledge, there are no systematic reviews assessing the role of NoV in AGE in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Consequently, we conducted an extensive systematic literature review on articles studying NoV in the 24 countries of the MENA region during the past 15 years (2000-2015). The methods and reporting were set according to the 2015 PRISMA-P and based on the elements from the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO). We retrieved 38 studies meeting our predefined inclusion criteria and were used to extract full data. Studies reporting on NoV were conducted in 15 out of the 24 countries of the region. The reported NoV infection rates in MENA countries ranged between 0.82% and 36.84%. The majority of studies were clinical observational studies assessing NoV rates mainly among children. Participants were recruited from in- and outpatient clinics. NoV infection was reported all year round with with peaks observed mainly during cold months. GII.4 was the predominant genotype detected in stool of participants as reported by 16 out of 25 studies (64%). Overall, there is an increasing recognition of NoV as an important causative agent of AGE across all age groups in the MENA region. Further studies are needed to assess the national and the regional burden of NoV among different age groups, its molecular diversity and seasonal variability.