Abstract
Fecal excretion of astroviruses was monitored in 321 children, 0 to 3 years old, living in the rural highlands of Guatemala. During the longitudinal study, from February 1987 to February 1989, we examined 5,000 stool specimens, including 1,805 collected during 1,369 episodes of diarrhea, 830 collected during the convalescent week, and 216 and 244 collected 2 weeks and 1 week, respectively, before the onset of diarrhea. Routine specimens were taken once a month from every child who had been free from diarrhea for at least three consecutive weeks. Of the children, 124 (38.6%) excreted astroviruses during the study. In total, we identified 184 infections by astroviruses. Of the samples collected 2 weeks and 1 week before the initiation of symptoms, 0.9 and 4.9%, respectively, were positive, while 7.3% of the diarrhea episodes were associated with astroviruses. Of the convalescent specimens, 3.4% were shown to be positive; 2.4% of the 1,905 specimens taken in diarrhea-free periods contained astroviruses. Infections by other potential enteropathogens were documented in 54 and 65% of the asymptomatic and symptomatic astrovirus infections, respectively. Diarrhea associated with astroviruses alone had a median duration of 5 days and was associated with vomiting in 8.6%, with fever in 17.1%, with dehydration in 5.7%, and with loss of appetite in 34.3% of the episodes. Diarrhea due to astroviruses was accompanied by negative changes in weight gain. Astrovirus diarrhea contributes to the high morbidity observed in young children living under poor conditions and has a deleterious effect on their nutritional status.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Appleton H., Higgins P. G. Letter: Viruses and gastroenteritis in infants. Lancet. 1975 Jun 7;1(7919):1297–1297. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92581-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ashley C. R., Caul E. O., Paver W. K. Astrovirus-associated gastroenteritis in children. J Clin Pathol. 1978 Oct;31(10):939–943. doi: 10.1136/jcp.31.10.939. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cruz J. R., Cano F., Càceres P., Chew F., Pareja G. Infection and diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium sp. among Guatemalan infants. J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Jan;26(1):88–91. doi: 10.1128/jcm.26.1.88-91.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cruz J. R., Cáceres P., Cano F., Flores J., Bartlett A., Torún B. Adenovirus types 40 and 41 and rotaviruses associated with diarrhea in children from Guatemala. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Aug;28(8):1780–1784. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.8.1780-1784.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Esahli H., Brebäck K., Bennet R., Ehrnst A., Eriksson M., Hedlund K. O. Astroviruses as a cause of nosocomial outbreaks of infant diarrhea. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1991 Jul;10(7):511–515. doi: 10.1097/00006454-199107000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herrmann J. E., Nowak N. A., Perron-Henry D. M., Hudson R. W., Cubitt W. D., Blacklow N. R. Diagnosis of astrovirus gastroenteritis by antigen detection with monoclonal antibodies. J Infect Dis. 1990 Feb;161(2):226–229. doi: 10.1093/infdis/161.2.226. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herrmann J. E., Taylor D. N., Echeverria P., Blacklow N. R. Astroviruses as a cause of gastroenteritis in children. N Engl J Med. 1991 Jun 20;324(25):1757–1760. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199106203242501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kjeldsberg E. Small spherical viruses in faeces from gastroenteritis patients. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand B. 1977 Oct;85B(5):351–354. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1977.tb01988.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kurtz J. B., Lee T. W. Human astrovirus serotypes. Lancet. 1984 Dec 15;2(8416):1405–1405. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)92101-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Madeley C. R., Cosgrove B. P., Bell E. J., Fallon R. J. Stool viruses in babies in Glasgow. I. Hospital admissions with diarrhoea. J Hyg (Lond) 1977 Apr;78(2):261–273. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400056151. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Madeley C. R., Cosgrove B. P. Letter: Viruses in infantile gastroenteritis. Lancet. 1975 Jul 19;2(7925):124–124. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90020-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Middleton P. J., Szymanski M. T., Petric M. Viruses associated with acute gastroenteritis in young children. Am J Dis Child. 1977 Jul;131(7):733–737. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1977.02120200015004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]