title: Epidemic Trends of Enterovirus Infections From Pediatric Patients in Cheonan, Korea.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of enterovirus (EV) infections in children at a single hospital during recent 5 years. This study was preformed from December 2008 to November 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  We subjected 1,067 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 1,053 patients and 678 stool specimens from 665 patients using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction tests that could detect EV. The data were analyzed according to seasonality and patient age and sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During this period, 176 of the total 1,053 patients (16.81%) were positive for EV in CSF. The highest rate of EV-positive samples occurred in children less than 1 year of age (114/176, 64.77%), and the most prevalent month was June. The results for CSF and stool specimens were concordant in 545 (80.38%) of 678 cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We described the epidemiological analytic data of the EV in the population of Cheonan, South Korea. The combination of the CSF and stool specimen enhances the diagnostic yield. There is a need for continuous study of EV infections and its clinical manifestations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Sik
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Kyung
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeesuk
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Wan
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004769:Enterovirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: CSF; children; distribution; epidemiology; stool; viral infection