Investigation of Rotavirus and Norovirus Frequency in Patients With Acute Diarrhea

Introduction: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the prevalence of rotavirus and norovirus in patients admitted to Ege University Medical Faculty Hospital with acute diarrhea in a period of about one year. Materials and Methods: Between September 2016-August 2017, stool specimens were collected from 408 (341 pediatric and 67 adult) patients with acute diarrhea. The age range of the patients was between one month to 84 years (median: 3 years, mean: 10.25 years). Stool specimens were obtained from 206 (50.5%) outpatients and 202 (49.5%) inpatients. Stool specimens of patients with acute gastroenteritis were tested by real time PCR BD MAX™ Enteric Viral Panel (BD Diagnostics, Baltimore, MD, USA). This is an automated in vitro diagnostic test used for the qualitative detection of norovirus (genotype I and II) and rotavirus species in stool specimens. In this multiplex PCR system, viral nucleic acid is extracted from the specimen and it undergoes reverse transcription to generate complementary DNA (cDNA). The target cDNA is amplified using real time PCR and then analyzed to detect the presence or absence of each virus in the panel. Results: Of the 408 specimens tested, 223 (54.7%) were positive for one or more gastrointestinal viruses. Of the 223 positive samples, 184 (45.1%) were rotavirus, 26 (6.4%) were norovirus genotype II, 1 (0.2%) was norovirus genotype I, and 12 (2.9%) were rotavirus/ norovirus genotype II. Of the 223 positive samples, 121 (54.3%) were outpatients and 102 (45.7%) were inpatients (p= 0.094). The rate of positivity for the rotavirus in pediatric and adult groups were 48.4% (165/341) and 46.3% (31/67) (p= 0.751), respectively. Rotavirus positivity was highest in the months of March (75%), February (70%) and January (60%). Conclusion: In conclusion, the rate of positivity for rotavirus and norovirus were found as 48% and 10%, respectively in fecal samples sent to the laboratory by viral acute gastroenteritis, especially in winter. There was no significant difference between the positivity rates of the inpatients or outpatients and the positivity rates of the pediatric or adult patients.