A Spanish case-control study in <5 year-old children reveals the lack of association between MLB and VA astrovirus and diarrhea

Abstract

Novel human astroviruses (HAstV) were discovered 10 years ago and have been associated with fatal cases of central nervous system infections. Their role in gastroenteritis is controversial, as they have been identified in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects. The aim of the study was to investigate novel HAstV in a gastroenteritis case-control study including a pediatric population in Spain over a one-year period. We included stool samples from patients with gastroenteritis and negative results for viruses screened by routine diagnostics, and stool samples of control subjects who sought for a routine medical consultation. All samples were screened by real-time Rt-pcR assays for novel HAstV. An additional screening for rotavirus, norovirus GI, GII, sapovirus, classic HAstV and adenovirus was also performed for the control group. Overall, 23/363 stool samples from case patients (6.3%) and 8/199 stool samples from control patients (4%) were positive for ≥1 novel HAstV. MLB1 was predominant (64.5% of positives). Seasonality was observed for the case group (p = 0.015), but not the control group (p = 0.95). No difference was observed in the prevalence of novel HAstV between the case and control groups (OR 1.78, 95% CI 0.68-5.45; p = 0.30). Nevertheless, MLB genome copy numbers/ml of fecal suspension was significantly higher in the control group than in the case group (p = 0.008). In our study, we identified a lack of association between novel HAstV and gastroenteritis in the studied population, which could indicate a potential role of reservoir for children, especially given the higher viral load observed in the asymptomatic group for some of them.

Sapovirus, Norovirus and Rotavirus Detections in Stool Samples of Hospitalized Finnish Children With and Without Acute Gastroenteritis

“…The virus detection rates are supported by studies from other developed countries, such as Denmark, Spain and the USA. [26][27][28] Norovirus was the most prevalent of the studied viruses in the whole cohort but also in both subgroups. The norovirus detection rate of 7.2% in the asymptomatic is similar to previous publications.…”

Unmasking viral sequences by metagenomic next-generation sequencing in adult human blood samples during steroid-refractory/dependent graft-versus-host disease

“…HAstV MLB2 was identified a decade ago [51], and since then, it has been demonstrated that it is circulating in every continent [50]. In addition, it is associated with systemic and central nervous system infections [7,52] and has been identified in stool samples of asymptomatic children [53]. In our mNGS study, classic HAstV was found in plasma samples of a patient with digestive GvHD shortly before death, and HAstV MLB2 was found at low VL in plasma samples of a patient with diarrhea due to digestive GvHD.…”

Human Astrovirus and Cryptosporidium Co-infection among Children with Gastroenteritis in Diyala Governorate

“…Regarding to age Pediatr et al, (2019) showed that the co-infection between Astrovirus and other enter viruses is most common under 2 years [37], while Mozhgani et al, (2012) in Iran [38], Vu et al, (2020) in Spain, proved that the vast majority of children had co-infection with human astrovirus while they were one year old and under [39 ]. This may be related to the reality that in the lower age groups, infection of human astrovirus, and Cryptosporidium spp.…”