An Outbreak of Astrovirus Infection of Newborns with Hemorrhagic Diarrhea in a Neonatal Unit.
- Author:
Jongyoun YI
1
;
Jae Kyoo LEE
;
Eun Hee CHUNG
;
Dong Hee CHO
;
Eui Chong KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Korea. euichong@snu.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Astrovirus;
Nosocomial infection;
Hemorrhagic diarrhea
- MeSH:
Adenoviridae;
Agglutination;
Cross Infection;
Diarrhea*;
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli;
Enterovirus;
Humans;
Infant, Newborn*;
Latex;
Nurseries, Hospital;
Polymerase Chain Reaction;
Reverse Transcription;
RNA;
RNA, Viral;
Rotavirus;
Salmonella;
Shigella
- From:Korean Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2004;7(1):55-58
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: We investigated the causative agents of hemorrhagic diarrhea which occurred in newborn babies in a hospital nursery in July, 2002. Rotavirus was not confirmed as the cause because only a few patients were positive for rotavirus test while most others with hemorrhagic diarrhea were negative. Therefore, patients with bloody stool were tested for Salmonella, Shigella, rotavirus, adenovirus, enterovirus, astrovirus, and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). METHODS: Bloody stools from 12 newborns with hemorrhagic diarrhea were tested. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of shiga-toxin gene was performed for EHEC. Rotavirus and adenovirus were tested with latex agglutination kit (Orion Diagnostica). Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR was performed for enterovirus. To detect astrovirus, RNA was extracted with Viral RNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN), reverse-transcribed with random hexamer, and PCR-amplified with specific primers. RESULTS: Of the 12 patients tested, seven (58%) were positive for astrovirus RT-PCR while all were negative for Salmonella, Shigella, EHEC, rotavirus, adenovirus, and enterovirus. CONCLUSIONS: Although diarrhea caused by astrovirus is known to be milder than that caused by rotavirus, our cases showed that astrovirus could cause serious bloody diarrhea in newborn babies.
