Etiological Spectrum of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children Less Than 5 Years of Age with Special Reference to Norovirus

To clarify the infectious etiology of acute gastroenteritis in children less than 5 years of age, we conducted a 1-year prospective case-control study. Stools from150 children with diarrhea and 150 age-matched controls admitted in the hospital for illness involving system other than that of gastrointestinal tract were examined, and their parents were interviewed regarding concerning symptoms. Samples were investigated for parasitic enteropathogens using microscopic examination and bacterial enteropathogens using conventional culture techniques. ELISA was performed for Rotavirus, adenovirus, astrovirus and norovirus were detected by PCR. Overall, a potential pathogen was found in 56.6% of the cases and 4% of controls.. The results indicated that noroviruses (4%) were less common than rotaviruses(24.6%), EPEC (4.6%), and V.Cholerae(4%) but more frequent than astroviruses (2.6%), adenoviruses(3.3%), Giardia lambia(2%) and Shigella spp.(1.3%). In our study it was found that acute gastroenteritis in children less than 5 years is due to viral etiology, where Rotavirus was predominant cause which points towards the need for a vaccine for this pathogen . While EPEC, Vibrio cholerae and Shigella represent the bacterial etiology of pediatric acute gastroenteritis. The role of norovirus as a emerging pathogen responsible for acute gastroenteritis in children needs to be assesed further.