Analysis on norovirus infection characteristics and risk factors in infants in Taizhou area, Zhejiang

Abstract

Objective To investigate norovirus infection status in infants with diarrhea in Taizhou area, and analyze the risk factors. Methods A total of 670 cases of 0-6 years old children with diarrhea in the Taizhou sentinel surveillance hospital were selected during January and December, 2017. Norovirus nucleic acid detection was performed on faecal samples of children, according to the norovirus positive situation, 396 healthy children were selected as the control group, and the risk factors of norovirus infection were analyzed. Results The positive rate of norovirus was 19.70%(132/670), of which 110 cases were norovirus GⅡ genotypes and 22 cases of GⅠ genotypes. There were no significant differences in the positive rates of norovirus in children with different sex and age (P>0.05). The positive rate was the highest in January, February, October, November and December in 2017. The proportion of the number of diarrhea≥5 times/day, watery stool, vomiting and fever in children with norovirus infection were significantly higher than those with rotavirus infection (χ2=43.147, 12.563, 49.847, 28.589, P all <0.05). The results of Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of norovirus infection were chopping board raw(OR=1.958, 95%CI: 1.243-3.086) and ripe undivided and contact with relatives of gastroenteritis at 1 weeks before(OR=2.438, 95%CI: 1.247-4.765). Conclusions Norovirus infection in infantile diarrhea cases has obvious seasonal distribution. Risk factors for norovirus infection include chopping board raw and ripe undivided and contact with relatives of gastroenteritis at 1 weeks before the onset of the disease. Key words: Diarrhea, infantile; Norovirus; Multivariate analysis