Abstract
BackgroundViral pathogens are the main cause of acute gastroenteritis in developed and developing countries. Rotavirus and adenovirus are the two important agents associated with hospitalization for diarrhea especially in children. Limitation and control of diarrhea as a costly disease must be considered in national health programs.ObjectivesEpidemiological studies on viral diarrhea and collecting data for rotavirus and adenovirus prevalence, as two important viral agents of gastroenteritis, are valuable for planning of a prospective program.Materials and Methods827 stool samples of pediatrics patients with gastroenteritis who were admitted to Dastgheib Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from September 2008 to February 2010 were tested for presence of rotavirus and adenovirus using the EIA method. A demographic and clinical study was performed to determine the relationship between viral infection and clinical outcomes of patients.ResultsRotavirus was identified in 347 patients out of 827 (42%), adenovirus was detected in 76 (9%) of samples and 34 (4%) of patients had rotavirus-adenovirus co-infection. Diarrhea was the most common symptom in viral infected patients.ConclusionsGiven the non-specific symptoms of these viruses and the high prevalence of viral diarrhea in our region, more laboratories should be equipped for virus detection and vaccination might be considered as a prevention strategy.
Highlights
Viral pathogens are the main cause of acute gastroenteritis in developed and developing countries
Among viral agents of gastroenteritis, rotavirus is known to be one of the frequent etiologic agent of viral diarrhea leading to a burden of many direct and indirect costs, such as physician visits and hospitalization and missing work, all over the world[5, 6]
The clinical spectrum of acute rotavirus gastroenteritis ranges from a self-limited watery diarrhea illness accompanied with nausea, anorexia and mild vomiting or fever, to sever dehydration resulting in hospitalization or even death [8]
Summary
Acute gastroenteritis is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Improving socio-economic conditions and collecting data or reports on viral infections in different countries are necessary for decision making health policies [4]. The clinical spectrum of acute rotavirus gastroenteritis ranges from a self-limited watery diarrhea illness accompanied with nausea, anorexia and mild vomiting or fever, to sever dehydration resulting in hospitalization or even death [8]. Since 95% of children experience rotavirus infection at the age < 5years, the lower rate of rotavirus gastroenteritis in adult seems to be due to the presence of antibody against the virus. Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: Diarrhea is the most common symptom in viral infected patients. Given the non specific symptoms of these viruses and the high prevalence of viral diarrhea in our region, more laboratories must be equipped for virus detection and vaccination might be considered as prevention strategy. Troenteritis prevalence illustrated that the incidence of enteric adenovirus infection is nearly 3 times greater in developing countries than developed ones [3, 13]
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