1. Comparison of clinical characteristics between astrovirus and rotavirus infections diagnosed in 1997 to 2002 in Hungary.
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Jakab, Ferenc, Péterfai, János, Meleg, Edina, Bányai, Krisztián, Mitchell, Douglas K., SzŰcs, György, Péterfai, János, Bányai, Krisztián, and Szucs, György
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ROTAVIRUS diseases ,VIRUS diseases ,INFECTION in children ,JUVENILE diseases ,PATHOGENIC microorganisms ,ENZYME-linked immunosorbent assay ,POLYMERASE chain reaction - Abstract
Aim: To determine the severity and clinical characteristics of human astrovirus (HAstV) infections among hospitalized children and compare them with children infected by rotavirus.Methods: Retrospective, case-control study of astrovirus-infected and rotavirus-infected children. Astroviruses were detected in stool samples by enzyme immunoassay and/or reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. All stool samples were tested for rotavirus and bacterial pathogens, and all negative samples were further tested for human astrovirus. Children with astrovirus-positive stool samples and complete clinical data were included in this study.Results: Astrovirus was detected in 29 (1.8%) children, and 63 rotavirus-infected children were included as controls. Astrovirus-infected children had shorter duration of diarrhea than rotavirus-infected children (median 4 and 6 d, respectively; p<0.05), and 79% of the astrovirus infections were associated with a short duration of vomiting (median 1 and 4 d, respectively; p<0.0001). Rotavirus-infected children had longer hospitalization (p<0.050) than astrovirus-infected children.Conclusion: HAstV-infected children had similar symptoms to those occurring in rotavirus infection. However, astrovirus-infected patients had a significantly shorter duration of diarrhea and vomiting, and they required a shorter hospitalization. On the basis of the clinical data and severity scores, children with rotavirus infection had more severe illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2005
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