Journal Article

A Prospective Case-Control Study of the Role of Astrovirus in Acute Diarrhea among Hospitalized Young Children

Spangenberger, Sara, Dennehy, Penelope H., Monroe, Stephan S., Glass, Roger I., Nelson, Sara M., Noel, Jacqueline S.

2001

Overview

This study examines the importance of astroviruses as a cause of acute diarrhea in hospitalized children <10 years old during a 5-year period. Stools were screened by electron microscopy and were tested for astrovirus, rotavirus, and enteric adenovirus by EIA. During the study, 14.6% of hospitalized children had diarrhea. Astroviruses were second only to rotaviruses as etiologic agents of both community-acquired and nosocomial diarrhea. Community-acquired astrovirus infection occurred in 6.8% of patients, and nosocomial disease occurred in 16.2%. Most cases occurred from March through June, and astrovirus type 1 was the most common. The symptoms of astrovirus-infected children were similar to those of children with rotavirus infection. However, astrovirus-infected children had a lower median age, less dehydration, and lower symptom severity scores and were less likely to have been admitted for gastroenteritis than were children with rotavirus. Astrovirus, for which only rehydration therapy is required, should be considered as another common diarrheal pathogen in children <2 years old

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press,University of Chicago Press,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Adenoviruses / Astroviridae Infections - complications / Astrovirus / Biological and medical sciences / Case-Control Studies / Child / Child health services / Child, Preschool / Children / Cryptosporidiosis / Diarrhea / Diarrhea - etiology / Diarrhea - virology / Etiology / Feces - virology / Female / Gastroenteritis / Hospital admissions / Human astrovirus / Human protozoal diseases / Human rotavirus / Human viral diseases / Humans / Immunoenzyme Techniques / Infant / Infant, Newborn / Infections / Infectious diseases / Major Articles / Male / Mamastrovirus - classification / Mamastrovirus - isolation & purification / Medical sciences / Parasitic diseases / Prospective Studies / Protozoal diseases / Rotavirus / Seasons / Serotyping / Viral diseases / Viral diseases of the digestive system / Viruses