ASSOCIATION OF TOROVIRUS WITH ACUTE AND PERSISTENT DIARRHEA IN CHILDREN

Objective. To study the etiologic role of toroviruses as a cause of ga stroenteritis in humans. Methods. The design was a case-control study. We compared the rate of torovirus detection in fecal specimens from a selection of children with acute or persistent diarrhea and controls without diarrhea from a study of childhood diarrhea in an urban Brazil ian slum. Stool samples were coded and tested in a blinded fashion for the presence of torovirus antigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa y, other enteropathogens, toxins and fecal leukocytes. Results. Thirty -three children with acute diarrhea, 41 children with persistent diarr hea and 17 controls were enlisted in the study. Torovirus antigen was detected in 9 (27%) samples from children with acute diarrhea, 11 (27% ) samples from children with persistent diarrhea and none of the sampl es from controls (P < 0.05). In addition the presence of enteroaggrega tive E. coli was associated with persistent diarrhea and the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts was common although not significant (P = 0. 08); torovirus and Cryptosporidium occurred in different subsets of sa mples, whereas torovirus and enteroaggregative Escherichia coli were c ommonly found in combination. Conclusions. These data indicate that to roviruses, alone or in combination with enteroaggregative E. coli, may play a pathogenic role in acute and possibly persistent diarrhea, Fur ther studies are warranted to determine the etiologic role of toroviru ses in gastroenteritis.