Currently, there are a few reports on viral coinfection that causes an acute watery diarrhea in Korean children. So, to evaluate the features of coinfectious viral agents in children with acute watery diarrhea, we enrolled 155 children with acute watery diarrhea from July 2005 to June 2006. Fecal samples were collected and evaluated for various viral infections such as rotavirus, norovirus, adenovirus and astrovirus. The mean (+/-standard deviation) age of the children was 2.71+/-2.37 yr. The detection rate of viral agents was most common in children between the ages of 1 and 3 yr. Rotavirus was detected in 63 children (41.3%), norovirus in 56 (36.2%), adenovirus in 11 (7.1%), and astrovirus in 1 (0.6%). Regarding rotavirus, there were 38 (60.3%) cases with monoinfection and 25 (39.7%) with coinfection. For norovirus, there were 33 (58.9%) cases with monoinfection and 23 (41.1%) with coinfection. Coinfection with rotavirus and norovirus was most common, and occurred in 20/155 cases (12.9%) including coinfection with adenovirus. So, rotavirus and norovirus were the most common coinfectious viral agents in our study population with acute watery diarrhea.
Acute Disease ; Adenovirus Infections, Human/epidemiology ; Astroviridae Infections/epidemiology ; Caliciviridae Infections/epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diarrhea/epidemiology/*virology ; Feces/virology ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea/epidemiology ; Norovirus/isolation & purification ; Rotavirus Infections/epidemiology ; Virus Diseases/complications/*epidemiology/virology

OBJECTIVETo study the epidemiology and strain variations of astrovirus infection among children under 5 years of age, hospitalized for acute diarrhea in China.

METHODSInpatients under 5 years of age with acute diarrhea in hospitals of seven provinces between 1998 and 2005 were enrolled in the study Stool specimens were collected and tested for astrovirus using the Dako Amplified IDEIA Astrovirus kits or reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Genetic identities of the strains were determined using RT-PCR with serotype-specific primers and confirmed by sequencing of the RT-PCR products.

RESULTSA total of 1668 diarrheal stool samples tested for both rotavirus and calicivirus negative were examined. The detection rate of astrovirus infection was 5.5% (91/1668) and the diarrhea cases caused by astrovirus infection could be found in any season of the year but mainly occurred in cold season from October to next January. Astrovirus detection-rates were: 7.4% among infants aged 9-11 months followed by 6.1% in 12-17 month-olds, and 6-8 months 5.6% & 0-2 months 5.6% before 8 months. Over 95% of astrovirus infections occurred in children before 2 years of age. Among 49 strains, typed, serotype 1(45/91) was most commonly seen while serotype 5 was in two cases and serotype 3 and 8 were detected in only one case respectively.

CONCLUSIONAstrovirus seemed an important etiologic agent in young children with acute diarrhea in China and Serotype 1 was the most prevalent one.

Acute Disease ; Astroviridae ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Astroviridae Infections ; complications ; epidemiology ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Diarrhea ; virology ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Inpatients ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Seasons ; Serotyping

The prevalence of human astroviruses was tested in patients with acute gastroenteritis by using conventional duplex reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and electrophoresis. Diarrheal fecal samples were collected from 9,597 patients at local hospitals in Seoul. The prevalence of astroviruses was 1.0% (94/9,597 patients; mostly infants), and that of sapoviruses was 0.1% (14/9,597 patients). Age- and gender-wise analyses were carried out on 29 astrovirus-positive patients having complete information on file regarding their age, gender, and other particulars. The results were higher in patients of ages 0 to 14 yr, and 69.0% of the astrovirus-positive patients were females, of which 69.2% were infants (0 to 12 months), and 61.5% were 1-4 yr old. Notably, in the case of 5 to 78-yr-old acute gastroenteritis patients, 100% were females.
Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Astroviridae Infections/complications/*epidemiology/virology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA, Viral/analysis ; Feces/virology ; Female ; Gastroenteritis/complications/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Mamastrovirus/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sapovirus/genetics/isolation & purification ; Sex Factors ; Young Adult