Open AccessRotavirus Quantification in Children with Acute Gastroenteritis
Author(s) -
Galliano Ilaria,
Daprà Valentina,
Dini Maddalena,
Gavatorta Martina,
Sardo Allegra,
Lo Curcio Giada,
Bergallo Massimiliano
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
intervirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.641
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1423-0100
pISSN - 0300-5526
DOI - 10.1159/000526839
Subject(s) - research article
Most intractable diarrheas are treated with antibiotics, irrespective of the causative agent. This study aimed to quantify rotavirus (RV) with TaqMan real-time PCR in fecal samples of children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in accordance with the program of reduction of drug resistance and use of antibiotics. Methods: A total of 190 fecal specimens were collected from under-5-year-old children with AGE in pediatric Hospital Regina Margherita of Turin in Italy in 2017. A total of 38 out of 67 (56.7%) episodes of AGE were associated with RV genomic detection with a multiplex commercial kit. Results: All fecal specimens were tested for the presence of RV and other GE viruses. The most commonly detected virus was norovirus (41%), astrovirus (15.8%), human bocavirus (8.9%), sapovirus (7.9%), human parechovirus (5.8%), rhinovirus (4.2%), and adenovirus (1%). In 66 out of 190 (34.7%), RV was detectable with the median viral load 7.2E + 11 ± 60E + 11 genomes/mg fecal specimens. Discussion/Conclusions: Our results showed that RV was present in around 34.7% of children hospitalized for AGE, a rate similar to those reported in previous studies conducted elsewhere which were in the range of 33–75%. Our protocols are able to quantify the absolute number of viral particle/mg of feces. The clinical utility of quantitative molecular assays, such as RV viral load, will be markedly improved.