1. Norovirus infection in children in Romania.
- Author
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Bajenaru, Luminita, Safta, Mihaela Georgiana, Gheorghe, Elena, Borcos, Bianca, Zah, Luciana Maria, Negrea, Delia Ioana, Popescu, Ana-Maria, Panciu, Andreea Madalina, and Jugulete, Gheorghita
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NOROVIRUS diseases , *MEDICAL care , *PEARSON correlation (Statistics) , *CITIES & towns , *ABDOMINAL pain - Abstract
Norovirus represents the most frequent cause of pediatric gastroenteritis requiring medical care. We conducted a prospective study on 276 patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Romania from January 2017 to December 2019 to estimate the clinic-epidemiological and evolutionary impact of Norovirus infection. Among the 276 patients, the median age was 2.34 years, and 57.61% were male. The frequency of hospitalizations in a year was higher in August, September, and October, and 72.1% of patients were from urban areas. Diarrhea (92.58%), vomiting (83.33%), anorexia (92.03%), and fever (57.61%) predominated, while abdominal pain (46.74%), nausea (30.8%), headache (18.84%), and myalgia (18.12%) were in lower percentages. Dehydration occurred in 99.28% of patients. Using the Pearson correlation coefficient, we formulated two hypotheses: in the 0-4 years category, the number of cases requiring hospitalization is inversely proportional to age (Pearson coefficient age-number of cases - 0.92), and the younger the age, the more it is associated with other infections and the longer the hospitalization duration. Conclusions. The clinic-epidemiological characteristics of patients with Norovirus infection are influenced by age – the younger the age, the longer the hospitalization duration and the higher the presence of associated infections; the average age is 2.34 years, with a predominance of males and children from urban areas. Hospitalization is high in August, September, and October, and diarrhea, vomiting, and anorexia predominate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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