Astrovirus infection in children with gastroenteritis

OBJETIVE. We report here a 2 year study (1997-1998) of astrovirus infection in children admitted to our hospital. The epidmioligical and clinical feat ures of the infection were also investigated. METHOD. A total of 1.815 stool specimens were tested during a two-year peri od (january 1997- december 1998). They were collected from children less th an 3 years of age admitted to La Pat Hospital (Madrid) with acute gastroent eritis. We used a monoclonal antibody-based enzyme inmunoassay (IDEIA (TM) Astrovirus, DAKO) to detect astrovirus antigen in faecal samples. RESULTs. Astroviruses were detected in 79 of the 1.815 analysed samples. Th is represented an incedence of 4,3%. The main symptom of infection was wate ry diarrhoea, and it was often associated with vomiting and fever. The mayo rity of astrovirus infection occurred between the coldest months of the yea r. Children under a year of age were the most susceptible population. There was a considerable number of patients (62%) who develop the infection afte r 72 hours of admission. CONCLUSION. The rate of detection reported here illustrates the importance of this pathogen in childhood diarrhoea, so we recommend its screening on a routine basis.