Abstract
Background
Acute viral gastroenteritis is a common illness in young children. Rotavirus, norovirus and enteric adenovirus are the major agents for viral gastroenteritis. Their detection rates have gradually increased in Korea. Our aim was to monitor the epidemiologic characteristics of the aforementioned viruses and to determine the laboratory and clinical characteristics of pediatric patients infected with these viruses.
Methods
From December 2009 to November 2010, 685 stool specimens from patients hospitalized at Chung-Ang University Hospital were tested for the aforementioned viruses using multiplex PCR. A corresponding medical record review was retrospectively conducted.
Results
The overall prevalence rate was 44.8%, with rates of 16.3%, 1.9%, 22.7%, 3.1%, and 0.8% for rotavirus, norovirus genogroup I, norovirus genogroup II, enteric adenovirus, and astrovirus, respectively. Mixed virus infections were detected in 37 patients (5.4%). The highest incidence rates occurred in March 2010 (18.9%), in the 13–24 month age group (38.1%), and in males (53.1%). Fever and chills were most frequently observed in patients with adenovirus (44.4%) than other viruses, while diarrhea was most frequently observed in patients with rotavirus (93.7%). Leukocytosis (55.0%) and lymphocytosis (21.0%) were more common in the norovirus-infected group than other viruses-infected group.
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Fig. 1.
Prevalence of diarrheal viruses. Distribution of positive cases from December 2009 to November 2010. Numbers in the graph are relative percentages of a certain virus.
![acm-19-33f1.tif](/upload/SynapseXML/1105acm/thumb/acm-19-33f1.gif)
Table 1.
Comparison of laboratory findings and clinical characteristics for each viral agent
Rotavirus (n=96) | Norovirus (n=153) | Adenovirus (n=18) | |
---|---|---|---|
Leukocytosis* | 42 (43.8%) | 84 (55.0%) | 8 (44.4%) |
Thrombocytosis | 15 (15.6%) | 28 (18.3%) | 4 (22.2%) |
Neutrophilia | 20 (20.8%) | 34 (22.2%) | 4 (22.2%) |
Lymphocytosis* | 12 (12.5%) | 32 (21.0%) | 4 (22.2%) |
Elevated CRP | 76 (79.1%) | 98 (64.0%) | 15 (83.3%) |
Elevated BUN | 32 (33.3%) | 53 (34.6%) | 2 (11.1%) |
Fever† | 67 (69.8%) | 95 (62.0%) | 17 (94.4%) |
Chill† | 5 (5.2%) | 8 (5.2%) | 8 (44.4%) |
Headache† | 1 (1.0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (5.5%) |
Abdominal pain | 25 (26.0%) | 31 (20.2%) | 8 (44.4%) |
Nausea | 35 (36.4%) | 44 (28.7%) | 8 (44.4%) |
Vomiting | 86 (89.6%) | 119 (77.8%) | 16 (88.9%) |
Diarrhea*† | 90 (93.7%) | 100 (65.4%) | 16 (88.9%) |
Oliguria | 6 (6.2%) | 5 (3.3%) | 1 (5.5%) |