title: Rotavirus diarrhoea in Thai infants and children.
abstract: One hundred and three children aged from 1 month to 5 years were assessed for human rotavirus (HRV) infection over a 5-week period at Children's Hospital, Bangkok. HRV was present in 18% and adenovirus in 10.7% of the children with gastro-enteritis. None of the controls excreted HRV. Vomiting and dehydration were significantly associated with HRV diarrhoea. A comparison of the reliability of the detection methods showed the following sensitivities: RNA-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) 90%, electron microscopy (EM) 84% and Rotascreen latex particle agglutination (LPA) 80%. PAGE and EM were 100% specific while the Rotascreen LPA was 81% specific. Rotascreen LPA gave 15.5% false positive results. Of the HRV positive samples analyzed by PAGE, 5.3% and 94.7% were of subgroups I and II, respectively. The ID enzyme immunoassay and PAGE are reliable and inexpensive methods which can be recommended for HRV detection, particularly in areas with little technical support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000371:Agglutination; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007840:Latex; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D007840:Latex