title: Recent viral pathogen in acute gastroenteritis: a retrospective study at a tertiary hospital for 1 year.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Viral gastroenteritis among children is mainly caused by rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, or adenovirus strains. However, changing socioeconomic conditions and a rotavirus vaccination program may be affecting the prevalence of these viral infections. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the season-specific trends in viral infections for facilitating prophylaxis and surveillance in our region.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated 345 pediatric patients (203 males, 142 females; age, 1 month to 16 years) who visited the CHA Bundang Medical Center because of gastroenteric symptoms between June 2014 and May 2015. The specimens were simultaneously tested for norovirus, rotavirus, astrovirus, and adenovirus via multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Clinical characteristics of patients were analyzed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common virus was norovirus, followed by rotavirus, adenovirus, and astrovirus. Of all viral infections, 45.2% occurred mainly between 6 and 24 months of age; in particular, norovirus infection mostly occurred in all age groups except those below 6 months of age, when rotavirus was most prevalent. In addition, seasonal variation was observed, such as norovirus infection from December to February, rotavirus infection from February to April, and adenovirus infection from July to October.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that the most common cause of acute pediatric viral gastroenteritis had changed from rotavirus to norovirus in our patients, because of effective rotaviral vaccination. We recommend the management of food and personal hygiene in accordance with age or seasons as well as active vaccination for preventing viral gastroenteritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoo Mi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: You Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
keywords: Gastroenteritis; Pediatrics; Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; Seasons