Trends in acute viral gastroenteritis among children aged ≤5 years through the national surveillance system in South Korea, 2013–2019

Abstract

Acute gastroenteritis is a global public health concern. This study aimed to analyze the trend and characteristics of acute viral gastroenteritis through a national surveillance network. Enteric viruses were detected in 9510 of 31,750 (30.1%) cases assessed from 2013 to 2019 by EnterNet. The most prevalent pathogens were norovirus (15.2%) and group A rotavirus (9.7%); most infections were reported in 2017 (34.0%). Norovirus and rotavirus coinfections were the most common. Norovirus infections were prevalent among 1‐year‐old children (1835 out of 9510 cases) during winter, and group A rotavirus infections were common during spring. Seasonality was not observed among enteric adenovirus, astrovirus, and sapovirus. The prevalent viral genotypes detected included norovirus GII.4, enteric adenovirus F41, astrovirus genotype 1, and sapovirus GI.1. However, changes in enteric virus trends were noted during the study period. Norovirus prevalence extended into spring, and new genotypes of enteric adenovirus, astrovirus, and sapovirus were identified. These surveillance data elucidate enteric virus epidemiological characteristics.

Rotavirus and adenovirus prevalence in patients with acute viral gastroenteritis in Denizli, Turkey, 2017–2021

“…Rotavirus and adenovirus infections are seen throughout the year. Rotavirus infection is common in many countries in winter and spring 13,14,19,22 . This study found that the rotavirus infections increased from December to April and then decreased until September.…”

“…Rotavirus infection is common in many countries in winter and spring. 13,14,19,22 This study found that the rotavirus infections increased from December to April and then decreased until September. The adenovirus infection was observed in January with the highest positive rate.…”

“…In a study conducted across many countries with different socioeconomic development levels, rotavirus and adenovirus prevalence varied from 4.8% to 45.05% and 1.5% to 17.6%, respectively. 11,[13][14][15][16][17] In Turkey, the prevalence of rotavirus is reported to vary between 6.7% and 20.2% and the prevalence of adenovirus between 0.96% and 7.6%. [18][19][20][21] The reason why the prevalence of rotavirus and adenovirus detected in our study was lower than in many other studies may have resulted from the method used for virus detection.…”

“…In South Korea, in 2013-2019, rotavirus prevalence was 13.9%, 9.5%, 9.7%, 6.3%, 10.0%, 7.0%, and 4.8%, while the adenovirus prevalence was 1.6%, 3.1%, 1.5%, 4.2%, 2.7%, 3.8%, and 1.5%, respectively. 13 In a study assessing rotavirus and adenovirus infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hangzhou, China, the rotavirus prevalence was 14.41% and 7.5% and adenovirus prevalence was 2.69% and 1.58% between 2019 and 2020, respectively. 16 In a recent study in Turkey between 2016 and 2019, the prevalence of rotavirus was reported as 18.4%, 13.7%, 16.8%, and 18.1% and adenovirus prevalence as 3.5%, 2.7%, 3.4%, and 1.7%, respectively.…”

“…The ages covered by the populations of research vary. In South Korea, between 2013 and 2019, a study on the surveillance of acute viral gastroenteritis in children under the age of 5 years showed that rotavirus and adenovirus were predominant in the first year of life, whereas another study, in which the burden and etiology of diarrhea in developing countries are examined, reported that rotavirus was prevalent in the first 2 years of life 13,24 . In a study that includes the entire childhood, rotavirus was seen at a higher rate in children under 4 years; and in another study, the rotavirus had a higher incidence rate in the first year of life and adenovirus was seen at a higher rate in 3–5 years of age 19,25 .…”