TABLE 58-2.

Epidemiologic Features of Viral Agents of Gastroenteritis

Feature	Rotavirus	Noroviruses	Sapoviruses	Astroviruses	Adenoviruses
Age of illness	<5 years	All ages	<5 years	<2 years	<2 years
Mode of transmission	Person-to-person via fecal–oral route, fomites	Person-to-person via fecal–oral route, fomites, food/water	Person-to-person via fecal–oral route	Person-to-person via fecal–oral route	Person-to-person via fecal–oral route
Incubation period	1–3 days	12–48 hours	12–48 hours	1–4 days	3–10 days
Symptoms
Diarrhea	Explosive, watery (5–10 episodes/day)	Watery with acute onset	Watery; milder than rotavirus	Watery; milder than rotavirus	Watery; milder than rotavirus; can be prolonged
Vomiting	80–90%	>50%; often dominant symptom	Less common than rotavirus	Less common than rotavirus	Less common than rotavirus
Fever	Frequent	Less common, usually mild	Less common, usually mild	Less common, usually mild	Less common, usually mild
Illness duration	2–8 days	1–5 days	1–4 days	1–5 days	3–10 days
Principal methods of clinical diagnosis	Stool EIA or LPA	RT-PCR	RT-PCR	Stool EIA (not available in the United States)	Stool EIA

EIA, enzyme immunoassay; EM, electron microscopy; IEM, immune electron microscopy; LPA, latex particle agglutination; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.

Modified from Peck AJ, Bresee JS. Viral gastroenteritis. In: McMillan JA, Feigin RD, De Angelis CD, Jones MD (eds) Oski's Pediatrics, 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, 2006, pp 1288–1294.