High prevalence of noroviruses among hospitalized diarrheal patients in Bangladesh, 2011.
BACKGROUND
Norovirus is not usually investigated in diarrheal patients in Bangladesh which may account for the many cases where no pathogens are identified.


METHODS
Stool specimens collected from diarrheal patients from three hospitals in Bangladesh during 2011 were investigated for norovirus RNA using real-time RT-PCR assay with norovirus type specific primers and probes.


RESULTS
Of the 257 stool specimens tested, 28.4 % were norovirus positive. GII (71.2%) was the predominant strain followed by GI (20.5%), GI+GII (6.8%) and GIV (1.4%). Half of the norovirus positive stools (n=37) were co-infected with other pathogens.


CONCLUSIONS
Continued surveillance of norovirus together with other viral and bacterial pathogens in hospitalized gastroenteritis patients as well as in the community will further elucidate the role and burden of different pathogens in diarrheal diseases.
Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. nahar_28@yahoo.com.
Shamsun
S
Nahar
Mokibul Hassan
MH
Afrad
Noorjahan
N
Begum
Feroz
F
Al-Mamun
Azadul Kabir
AK
Sarker
Sumon Kumar
SK
Das
Abu Syed Golam
AS
Faruque
Mahmoud Reza
MR
Pourkarim
Mohammad Shabuddin Kabir
MS
Choudhuri
Tasnim
T
Azim
Mustafizur
M
Rahman
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes / Q000235:genetics; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
D017931:DNA Primers; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D012367:RNA, Viral