title: Aetiology of acute gastroenteritis in adults requiring hospitalization in The Netherlands.
abstract: SUMMARY            Infectious gastroenteritis causes a considerable burden of disease worldwide. Effective control should be targeted at diseases with the highest burden and costs. Therefore, an accurate understanding of the relative importance of the different microorganisms is needed. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and aetiology of gastroenteritis in adults requiring hospital admission in The Netherlands. Five hospitals enrolled patients admitted with gastroenteritis for about 1 year during the period May 2008 to November 2009. Participants completed questionnaires and provided a faecal sample. The hospital completed a clinical questionnaire. In total, 44 adults hospitalized for gastroenteritis were included in the study. The cases had serious symptoms, with 31% subsequently developing kidney failure. One or more pathogens were found in 59% of cases. Overall, rotavirus (22%) was the most common infection. Co-infections were observed relatively often (22%). This study emphasizes that rotavirus can also cause serious illness in adults.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health, Centre for Infectious Disease Control, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. ingrid.friesema@rivm.nl
authors.forename: I H M
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Friesema
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: De Boer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duizer
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kortbeek
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Notermans
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smeulders
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bogerman
authors.forename: M J H
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pronk
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Uil
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brinkman
authors.forename: M P G
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Koopmans
authors.forename: A M D
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kooistra-Smid
authors.forename: Y T H P
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Van Duynhoven
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult