Analysis on epidemiologic characteristics of viral diarrhea among infants in Guangzhou in 2008.

Objective To study the epidemiologic characteristics of virus-induced acute diarrhea in children under 5 years old in Guangzhou.Method Stool specimens and clinical data were collected from 686 outpatients with acute diarrhea in sentinel Hospital in 2008.Rotavirus,adenovirus and astrovirus were detected by ELISA method.Norovirus antigen was measured using RIDASCREEN ELISA kit.Result Of the 686 specimens,the percentage of samples with Rotavirus,Norovirus,adenovirus and astrovirus was 34%,20.7%,6.0% and 1.2%,respectively.Mixed infection accounted for 5.1% of total cases,in which 85.7% were mixed infection with rotavirus and other enteric viruses.Infection with these 4 types of virus was significantly associated(P0.05) with the age(under 2 years old),but not with the gender,of the patients.And the percentage of infection with rotavirus,Norovirus,adenovirus and astrovirus in these patients were 93.1%,92.3%,87.8% and 100%,respectively.The incidence of rotavirus infection was peaked at around October and December.Children with mixed infection usually had severe diarrhea symptoms(P0.05).Conclusion Rotavirus is the major pathogen contributing to the acute diarrhea.The disease is generally peaks at autum / winter.Children under 2 years old are at higher risk of infection.Attention should be paid particularly the patients with mixed infection.