Prevalence of Rotavirus, Adenovirus, Norovirus and Astrovirus

(206 words) 41 42 From January to December 2007, 973 stool specimens were prospectively collected 43 from children hospitalized for gastroenteritis signs or from neonates and premature cases who 44 were born in two French hospital settings in the north of France. They were tested by rapid 45 EIA analyses for rotavirus and adenovirus and by two commercially available ELISA tests for 46 the detection of norovirus and astrovirus. The overall rates of prevalence for rotavirus, 47 norovirus, adenovirus and astrovirus were 21, 13, 5 and 1.8%, respectively, and they did not 48 significantly differ between the two hospital settings (P=0.12). Mixed virus infections were 49 detected in 32 (3.3 %) of the 973 study children and were associated with norovirus in 21 50 (66%) infants, including 5 premature cases. From falls to spring, norovirus infections 51 accounted for 52% of documented gastroenteritidis viral infections at a time where rotavirus 52 was epidemic, resulting in mixed norovirus and rotavirus gastrointestinal tract infections. Of 53 the 367 documented viral gastroenteritis cases, 15 (4.1%) were identified as nosocomial 54 infections 5 of which occurred in premature cases. These findings highlight the need to 55 implement norovirus and astrovirus ELISA detection assays in association with rapid EIA 56 rotavirus and adenovirus detection assays for the clinical diagnosis and the nosocomial 57 prevention of gastroenteritis viral infections in pediatric departments. 58