title: Prevalence and genetic diversity of human astroviruses in Mexican children with symptomatic and asymptomatic infections.
abstract: The prevalence and type diversity of human astroviruses (HAstV) in children with symptomatic and asymptomatic infections were determined in five localities of Mexico. HAstV were detected in 4.6 (24 of 522) and 2.6% (11 of 428) of children with and without diarrhea, respectively. Genotyping of the detected strains showed that at least seven (types 1 to 4 and 6 to 8) of the eight known HAstV types circulated in Mexico between October 1994 and March 1995. HAstV types 1 and 3 were the most prevalent in children with diarrhea, although they were not found in all localities studied. HAstV type 8 was found in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Mérida; in the last it was as prevalent (40%) as type 1 viruses, indicating that this astrovirus type is more common than previously recognized. A correlation between the HAstV infecting type and the presence or absence of diarrheic symptoms was not observed. Enteric adenoviruses were also studied, and they were found to be present in 2.3 (12 of 522) and 1.4% (6 of 428) of symptomatic and asymptomatic children, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Méndez-Toss
authors.forename: Dixie D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Griffin
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calva
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.forename: Fernando I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Puerto
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mota
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guiscafré
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cedillo
authors.forename: Onofre
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D000257:Adenoviridae Infections / Q000821:virology; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000821:virology