Abstract
A preliminary investigation was conducted to screen for astrovirus in Lagos. Two hundred and fifteen (215) faecal samples collected from children under 5 years old with diarrhoea (161) and without diarrhoea (54) admitted at paediatric clinics in Lagos State were studied. The stool specimens were examined for the presence of human astrovirus antigen using a monoclonal antibody-based ELISA (Astrovirus RIDASCREEN(®) r-Biopharm, Germany) technique. Astrovirus was detected in 40.4 percent (65/161) of the diarrhoeal stools compared to 11.1 percent (6/54) of the control specimens. Astrovirus was found to infect younger children and about three quarter of the children infected was under 12 months of age. The prevalence of infection decreases with age group and was statistically significant (P = 0.0470). Although, prevalence of infection is more in males than females but this is not significant. This study shows that astrovirus is an important agent of acute gastroenteritis among children in Lagos state.
Highlights
Astroviruses are small, non-enveloped positive sense, single stranded RNA viruses in the family astroviridae
Though males were found to be infected more than females in both the diarrhoeal and control cohorts; there was no significant difference (P = 0.101, χ2 = 2.691) in astrovirus positivity for the diarrheic; small sample size rendered the analysis for non-diarrheic group invalid (Table 1)
Human astrovirus antigen was detected in 40.4 per cent (65/161) of the stools from infants and young children with acute gastroenteritis presenting at hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria
Summary
Astroviruses are small, non-enveloped positive sense, single stranded RNA viruses in the family astroviridae. They cause gastroenteritis and are found in the stools of several vertebrates including humans. Agents identified as cause of severe diarrhoeal diseases include bacteria, parasites and viruses (O’Ryan, 2005; Mims et al, 1999 and Tiemessen et al, 1989) Viruses account for 75% of infantile gastroenteritis and are known to be potent inducers of diarrhoea, vomiting and subsequent dehydration (Christensen, 1989). The major viruses known to cause gastroenteritis in humans are Astroviruses, Adenoviruses, Caliciviruses, and Rotaviruses (Estes and Ramig, 2001; Glass et al, 2006)
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