Acute Infantile Gastroenteritis Associated with Human Enteric Viruses in Tunisia

• Published in: Journal of Clinical Microbiology Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 1349 - 1355
• Main Authors: Sdiri-Loulizi, Khira, Gharbi-Khélifi, Hakima, de Rougemont, Alexis, Chouchane, Slaheddine, Sakly, Nabil, Ambert-Balay, Katia, Hassine, Mouna, Guédiche, Mohamed Neji, Aouni, Mahjoub, Pothier, Pierre
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for Microbiology 01.04.2008; American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adenovirus; Aichi virus; Astrovirus; Biological and medical sciences; Caliciviridae Infections; Caliciviridae Infections - epidemiology; Caliciviridae Infections - virology; Child; Child, Preschool; Diarrhea, Infantile; Diarrhea, Infantile - epidemiology; Diarrhea, Infantile - virology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenteritis; Gastroenteritis - epidemiology; Gastroenteritis - virology; Hospitalization; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Life Sciences; Male; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Norovirus; Norovirus - isolation & purification; Rotavirus; Rotavirus - isolation & purification; Rotavirus Infections; Rotavirus Infections - epidemiology; Rotavirus Infections - virology; Tunisia; Tunisia - epidemiology; Virology; Virus Diseases; Virus Diseases - epidemiology; Virus Diseases - virology; Tunisia; Africa; Human; Microbiology; Acute; Gastroenteritis; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Gastric disease
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X; 1098-5530
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02438-07

This prospective study, conducted from January 2003 to June 2005, investigated the incidence and the clinical role of various enteric viruses responsible for infantile gastroenteritis in 632 Tunisian children presenting in dispensaries (380 children) or hospitalized (252 children) for acute diarrhea. At least one enteric virus was found in each of 276 samples (43.7%). A single pathogen was observed in 234 samples, and mixed infections were found in 42 samples. In terms of frequency, rotavirus and norovirus were detected in 22.5 and 17.4% of the samples, respectively, followed by astrovirus (4.1%), Aichi virus (3.5%), adenovirus types 40 and 41 (2.7%), and sapovirus (1.0%). The seasonal distribution of viral gastroenteritis showed a winter peak but also an unusual peak from May to September. The severity of the diarrhea was evaluated for hospitalized infants. No significant differences were observed between rotavirus and norovirus infections with regard to the incidence and the clinical severity of the disease, especially in dehydration.