title: Prevalence of Rotavirus, Adenovirus, and Astrovirus Infections among Patients with Acute Gastroenteritis in, Northern Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis associated with diarrheal diseases in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 400 symptomatic cases from patients with acute gastroenteritis from Mazandaran Province in Iran were screened using EIA method for the presence of rotavirus, adenovirus and astrovirus during 2005-2006. Chi-square tests were used for testing relationships between different variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rotavirus, adenovirus and astrovirus were detected in 62%, 2.3%, and 3% of samples, respectively. The maximum rate of rotaviruses was detected in the <1-year-old age group, while minimum rate was found in the 10 years and older age group. Astrovirus and adenovirus were detected predominantly in the 2-5-year-old age group of children, with a prevalence of 8.3% and 3.5% respectively. All studied viral gastroenteritis peaked in the winter, and minimum rate were found in summer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our statistical analyzes indicated that viral gastroenteritis, especially Rota-viral, had the highest number of occurrences in colder seasons notably in winter and more frequently were observed among younger children.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hamkar
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yahyapour
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noroozi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nourijelyani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jalilvand
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adibi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaziri
authors.forename: Aa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poor-Babaei
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pakfetrat
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Savad-Koohi
keywords: Adenovirus; Astrovirus; Gastroenteritis; Iran; Rotavirus