Viral gastroenteritis in children hospitalised in Sicily, Italy

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to describe the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of acute viral gastroenteritis in hospitalised Italian children. A total of 215 stool specimens were collected from January to December 2003 from patients hospitalised in Palermo for acute diarrhoea. Samples were tested for group A rotavirus, astrovirus, adenovirus, norovirus, enteropathogenic bacteria, and parasites. Rotaviruses, mostly belonging to types G1-G4, were detected in 25.1% of samples, astrovirus in 7%, adenovirus in 6%, norovirus in 18.6%, and bacterial agents in 17.2%. No parasitic infections were diagnosed. Mixed infections represented 9.8% of all cases. The mean and median ages of children with rotavirus gastroenteritis were lower than those of children with other viruses (p = 0.029), with the highest median ages being found in astrovirus-infected patients. Vomiting and dehydration were more frequent among patients with viral infection (p < 0.01), and the severity score was significantly higher for children infected with astrovirus or group A rotavirus (p = 0.008). Rotavirus was the leading cause of prolonged hospitalisation (p = 0.005). In conclusion, viruses were confirmed in Italy as the most common cause of severe enteric illness in childhood, with rotavirus types G1-G4, which correspond to those included in the rotavirus vaccines being developed, playing the main role. Routine testing should be introduced for noroviruses, since they seem to represent an important cause of sporadic paediatric gastroenteritis.

Detection and molecular characterisation of adenovirus in children under 5 years old with diarrhoea

“…In different settings, the proportion of adenoviruspositive samples determined by EIA varied from 2.9%-16.7% (31)(32)(33)(34). The proportion of adenovirus positivity that we have identified in Turkey by EIA is concordant with that found in Europe.…”

Nationwide surveillance study of human astrovirus infections in an Italian paediatric population

“…Surveillance studies conducted in Palermo, Italy, in 1999-2000 and 2002-2005, revealed that yearly prevalence of HAstVs in children hospitalized for gastroenteritis ranged from 0 . 5% to 7%, similarly to the prevalence observed in other countries [7][8][9]. The predominant type circulating in the local population was HAstV-1 with temporal fluctuations of lineages 1b and 1d.…”

“…Upon sequence analysis, two different HAstV-2 lineages were identified. The type 2c lineage was first identified in Palermo in 2002 [7] and found to be circulating in 2008 in the local population, although at low frequency. The HAstV-2c strains circulating in 2008 showed 100% nucleotide identity to the old type 2c strains (PA65/02-like) (Fig.…”

Epidemiology and clinical features of gastroenteritis in hospitalised children: prospective survey during a 2-year period in a Parisian hospital, France

“…The literature concerning symptom severity in norovirus and rotavirus gastroenteritis is heterogeneous [42]. A number of previous studies found lower levels of disease severity in norovirus than in rotavirus gastroenteritis, and most of these were carried out in developed countries [7,[43][44][45][46][47]. In contrast, other studies found no significant differences between the severity of rotavirus and norovirus infections [48][49][50][51].…”