Molecular epidemiology and clinical manifestations of viral gastroenteritis in hospitalized pediatric patients in Northern Taiwan

Abstract

By reverse transcription-PCR or PCR, among 257 children with nonbacterial acute gastroenteritis (AGE), rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, enteric adenovirus, and multiple viruses were identified in 78 (30.4%), 21 (8.2%), 7 (2.7%), 51 (19.8%), and 53 (20.6%) patients, respectively. Higher disease severity was found for AGE caused by multiple viruses and by rotavirus alone. The majority of rotaviruses isolated from 2004 to 2006 belonged to genotypes G1 (20.4%), G2 (16.5%), G3 (27.2%), and G9 (21.4%).

FIG. 1.

Seasonal distribution of viral gastroenteritis in pediatric patients hospitalized in Chang Gung Children's Hospital, Taiwan, 2004 to 2006 (A), and seasonal distribution of different genotypes of rotavirus in northern Taiwan, 2004 to 2006 (B).