title: Rotavirus and coronavirus outbreak: etiology of annual diarrhea in Costa Rican children.
abstract: In Costa Rica, an annual outbreak of infant diarrheal disease (December and January) was reported since 1976, and rotavirus was incriminated later as the main etiological agent (1976-1981). Apparently the disease has not been systematically studied in Costa Rica after 1981. For that reason the occurrence of the outbreak was retrospectively documented for 1993-1995 and etiology was studied in 48 children treated for diarrhea at the Nacional Children Hospital (capital city of San Jose) during December, 1994 and January, 1995. Rotavirus (33%) and coronavirus (27%) were the main agents. To our knowledge, this is the first time that these viruses are incriminated in an outbreak of diarrhea.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José Costa Rica.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánches
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hernández
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003364:Costa Rica / Q000453:epidemiology; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*