The diagnosis of norovirus infections in hospitalized children and adolescents with acute gastroenteritis: a study from Pilsen, Czech Republic.

BACKGROUND: Norovirus-associated sporadic gastroenteritis is an important cause of illness in Western Europe. However, at present, little information on the role of norovirus in sporadic gastroenteritis in Central Europe is available. Our study aimed at providing an assessment of their significance in hospitalized children and adolescents with acute gastroenteritis using ELISA test at the time of their introduction.

METHODS: A prospective hospital based study of the etiology of acute gastroenteritis was undertaken in a total of 618 patients (mean age 39.8 months, range 0-228), who were hospitalized at the Charles University Hospital in Pilsen. All subjects were monitored in six fragmented periods during the years 2003 and 2004, 2006 and 2007. Clinical and laboratory data were processed, norovirus antigens in stools were detected using the EIA kits IDEIA Norovirus, DakoCytomation.

RESULTS: A norovirus infection was confirmed in 62 cases, i.e., 10.0% of all patients with acute gastroenteritis. Vomiting was the most common symptom, recorded in 95.2 % of all the patients with norovirus infection. No severe extragastrointestinal complications were detected. The average interval between initial symptoms and the beginning of hospitalization was considerably shorter in patients with norovirus infection (1.3 days) compared with patients with rotavirus infections (2.4 days). The frequency of Salmonella spp., rotavirus, Campylobacter spp. and enteric adenovirus was 15.4%, 11.2%, 3.9%, 3.6%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the clinical importance of noroviruses as a causative agent of acute gastroenteritis in children and teenagers in the region of a Central European country. Identification of norovirus infection should be included in the routine screenings of sporadic cases of acute gastroenteritis.