Aim: To determine the severity and clinical characteristics of human astrovirus (HAstV) infections among hospitalized children and compare them with children infected by rotavirus. Methods: Retrospective, case-control study of astrovirus-infected and rotavirus-infected children. Astroviruses were detected in stool samples by enzyme immunoassay and/or reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. All stool samples were tested for rotavirus and bacterial pathogens, and all negative samples were further tested for human astrovirus. Children with astrovirus-positive stool samples and complete clinical data were included in this study. Results: Astrovirus was detected in 29 (1.8%) children, and 63 rotavirus-infected children were included as controls. Astrovirus-infected children had shorter duration of diarrhea than rotavirus-infected children (median 4 and 6 d, respectively; p < 0.05), and 79% of the astrovirus infections were associated with a short duration of vomiting (median 1 and 4 d, respectively; p < 0.0001). Rotavirus-infected children had longer hospitalization (p < 0.050) than astrovirus-infected children. Conclusion: HAstV-infected children had similar symptoms to those occurring in rotavirus infection. However, astrovirus-infected patients had a significantly shorter duration of diarrhea and vomiting, and they required a shorter hospitalization. On the basis of the clinical data and severity scores, children with rotavirus infection had more severe illness.
|Number of pages||5|
|Journal||Acta Paediatrica, International Journal of Paediatrics|
|Publication status||Published - Jun 1 2005|
- Clinical symptoms
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health