Table 1.

Epidemiologic features of viral causes of gastroenteritis

Feature	Rotavirus	Noroviruses	Sapoviruses	Astroviruses	Adenoviruses
Predominant age of illness	< 5 year	All ages	< 5 year	< 2 year	< 2year
Mode of transmission	Person-to-person through fecal-oral route, fomites	Person-to-person through fecal-oral and vomitus-oral, fomites, food or water	Person-to-person through fecal-oral route	Person-to-person through fecal-oral route	Person-to-person through fecal-oral route
Incubation period	1–3 days	12–48 hours	12–48 hours	1–4 days	3–10 days
Symptoms
Diarrhea	Explosive, watery	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
Clinical diagnosis	Stool EIA or LPA	RT-PCR	RT-PCR	Stool EIA (not available in United States)	Stool EIA

EIA, enzyme immunoassay; LPA, latex particle agglutination; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction.

Modified from Peck, A. J., Bresee, J. S. Viral gastroenteritis. In: McMillan, J. A., Feigin, R. D., De Angelis, C. D., Jones, M. D. Jr. (eds). Oski's Pediatrics, 4th ed. Philadelphia, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006, pp. 1288–1294.