Acute diarrhea in one of the most important diseases in children with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Most of acute diarrhea is induced by viruses. Rotavirus and adenovirus are leading causes of severe gastroenteritis among infants and young children worldwide. Studies for adenovirus gastroenteritis in Korea are limited. We studied the prevalence of rotavireus and adenovirus gastroenteritis from March 1998 to June 1999 in Chungju area.

Stool samples were collected from 143 children with acute diarrhea. Specimens were tested for group A rotavirus antigen and for adenovirus type 40 and 41 by using available commercial kits.

Among 143 samples, 37% were positive for rotavirus and 16% were positive for adenovirus. Rotavirus was most prevalent from January to March, 1999 and adenovirus was prevalent during September 1999. The greatest number of rotavirus infections occurred under 24 months of age, followed by 2~4 years of age. Adenovirus was most common in 2~24 months of age.

Rotavirus was most prevalent in winter and early spring. In our study, rotavirus was prevalent in early spring and adenovirus was in autumn.