Age‐specific spectrum of etiological pathogens for viral diarrhea among children in twelve consecutive winter‐spring seasons (2009–2021) in China

Abstract

Viral diarrhea is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children. This study was conducted to disclose the etiological cause and epidemiological features of viral diarrhea among children in China. From 2009 to 2021, active surveillance was performed on pediatric patients with acute diarrhea and tested for five enteric viruses.Positive detection was determined in 65.56% (3325/5072) patients and an age-specific infection pattern was observed. A significantly higher positive rate was observed in 12-23-month-old children for rotavirus (47.46%) and adenovirus (7.06%), while a significantly higher positive rate was observed for norovirus (37.62%) in 6-11-monthold patients, and for astrovirus (11.60%) and sapovirus (10.79%) in 24-47-month-old patients. A higher positive rate of rotavirus in girls and norovirus in boys was observed only among 6-11 months of patients. We also observed more norovirus among patients from rural areas in the 0-5-and 36-47-month groups and more rotavirus among those from rural areas in the 12-23-month group. Diarrhea severity was greater for rotavirus in the 6-23-month group and norovirus in the 6-11-month group. Coinfections were observed in 29.26% (973/3325) of positive patients, and were most frequently observed between rotavirus and others (89.31%). Our findings could help the prediction, prevention, and potential therapeutic approaches to viral diarrhea in children.

Emergent variant modeling of the serological repertoire to norovirus in young children

“…Current vaccines in clinical trials include a single GII.4 capsid immunogen, either a consensus GII.4 based on extinct variants or SY 2012 84 (NCT04854746). If the vaccine is given early enough to prevent most first symptomatic infections (∼six months of age), 85 , 86 then the vaccine may guide the nAb response in children, as natural infection does in the absence of vaccination. Unfortunately, natural infection with a single variant does not provide durable protection from infection with emergent variants.…”

Analysis of the epidemiological characteristics between 2004 and 2017 and prediction of the changing pattern of other infectious diarrhea (OID) under COVID-19 in China

“…The peak of diarrhea in summer may be due to the high temperature, which bacteria are easy to grow and reproduce in, which pollutes water and food. [16,17] Therefore, health education on foodborne diseases among residents and catering units should be carried out, and supervision should be strengthened to avoid raw and semi-raw aquatic products and their cross contamination. [18] OID presented a specific temporal and spatial distribution usually clustered spatially in different geographical locations.…”

Identification of a novel astrovirus from intestinal tissue of a donkey foal with severe diarrhea in China

“…Astroviruses can cause fever, vomiting, and severe diarrhea in juvenile and elderly mammals and in immunocompromised individuals ( Cortez et al, 2017 ). Astroviruses usually cause self-limiting diseases with mild gastrointestinal symptoms in adult humans and animals, with a lower prevalence in patients with diarrhea compared to that of rotaviruses and noroviruses ( Wang et al, 2022 ). As such, little attention has been paid to treating astrovirus infections and limiting their transmission.…”