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Viral diarrhea in children in Beijing, China
Author(s) -
Qiao Haiping,
Nilsson Mikael,
Abreu Elba Rubilar,
Hedlund KjellOlof,
Johansen Kari,
Zaori Getu,
Svensson Lennart
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9071(199904)57:4<390::aid-jmv11>3.0.co;2-0
Subject(s) - rotavirus , astrovirus , diarrhea , virology , norovirus , beijing , virus , medicine , etiology , reoviridae , pediatrics , biology , china , gastroenterology , geography , archaeology
A study was undertaken from November 1994 to August 1996 to determine the role of viruses in children (⩽5 years of age) hospitalized at Beijing Children Hospital, Beijing China, for acute diarrhea. Stool samples from diarrheal patients were investigated by ELISA, electron microscopy, and RT‐PCR for the presence of rotavirus, calicivirus, astrovirus, and adenovirus. Group A rotavirus was detected in 55.9% of all diarrheal patients and comprised 82.5% of all viruses detected. Group A rotavirus samples were further characterized for their G‐type specificity by RT‐PCR. Four major G types (1–4) were identified. G1 to G4 accounted for 58.9%, 15.7%, 16.8%, and 6.3%, respectively, of the serotyped samples. Almost all rotavirus infections occurred in children less than 1 year of age, with a significant clustering during the winter months. Group C rotavirus was detected in one 18‐month‐old child. Astroviruses, caliciviruses, and adenoviruses were detected in 8.5%, 7.6%, and 2.5% of the hospitalized children, respectively. This, the first viral etiological study of childhood diarrhea in China, concludes that rotavirus G1–4 strains play an important role in severe diarrhea in Beijing children. J. Med. Virol. 57:390–396, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.