Detection of enteric viruses in rectal swabs from children with acute gastroenteritis attending the pediatric outpatient clinics in Sapporo, Japan

BackgroundGastroenteritis is a world-wide disorder. Numerous studies to identify causative viral agents have been reported for hospitalized patients but there are only a few for outpatients with mild symptoms who are usually managed in the outpatient clinics.ObjectivesOur aim was to clarify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of acute gastroenteritis in children who visited the outpatient clinics with various complaints suggestive of gastroenteritis.Study designFrom December 2003 to December 2005, 877 rectal swabs were collected from patients attending outpatient clinics in Sapporo, Japan. Viral genomes of major five enteric viruses (rotavirus, norovirus, adenovirus, astrovirus and sapovirus) and bocavirus were investigated by RT-PCR or PCR.ResultsAt least one viral agent was found in 326 (37.2%) cases of the 877 studied. Rotaviruses were the most prevalent and were detected in 143 (16.3%) followed by norovirus in 116 (13.2%), adenovirus in 42 (4.8%), astrovirus in 40 (4.6%) and sapovirus in 15 (1.7%) cases. Bocavirus was detected in only 4 (0.5%) cases. Frequent diarrhea and frequent vomiting were prominent in rotavirus and norovirus infection, respectively.ConclusionsThe prevalence of each enteric virus in outpatients resembled that previously estimated in hospitalized patients, although the detection rate of rotavirus was slightly low. The contribution of bocavirus appears to be small.