Comparative analysis on clinical manifestations for gastroenteritis caused by norovirus and rotavirus

Abstract

To compare the clinical manifestations of gastroenteritis caused by norovirus and rotavirus in infants and young children in Beijing. Stool specimens were collected from infants and young children with acute diarrhea who visited the Affiliated Children's Hospital to Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January 2002 to December 2006. Registration form was designed for clinical data collection for each patient from whom specimen was collected. Poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) were used to detect rotavirus and Human norovirus, respectively. Among 779 stool specimens tested for rotavirus, 263 were positive (33.8%), and norovirus positive specimens were 79 out of 318 (24.8%) specimens tested. Most of the clinical manifestations of gastroenteritis caused by these two viruses were quite similar with no significant difference, except for fever. The seasonal distribution of these two viruses were different with the peak of rotavirus infection was in cold weather between October and January, as indicated by the peak of the positive rates of the virus detection. The infection of norovirus seemed no obvious peak in the year. Rotavirus is the most important pathogen for acute diarrhea among infants and young children while. Norovirus is also an important pathogen for acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children. No significant difference was found out for clinical manifestations for the gastroenteritis caused by these two viruses.