Abstract
Objective: Adenovirus and rotaviruses are important causes of morbidity and mortality in infants and children in developed and developing countries. In this study, it was aimed to determine the frequency of adenovirus and rotavirus in patients with acute gastroenteritis who admitted to the pediatric outpatient clinics of our hospital and to evaluate retrospectively the distribution of these agents according to age, gender, and seasons.
Material and Methods: In this study, the results of 7037 patients, 3927 male and 3110 female, who were pre-diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis in our hospital between January 2016 and December 2021 were evaluated retrospectively. Immunochromatographic test was used to detect adenovirus and rotavirus antigens in stool samples of the patients.
Results: Viral antigen was detected in 988 (14.04%) out of 7037 patients included in the study. Rotavirus was detected in 750 (10.7%) patients, and adenovirus in 238 (3.3%) patients. Rotavirus and adenovirus positivity rates were most common in the 1-2 and 3-5 age group. There was a statistically significant difference between adenovirus and rotavirus positivity rate and age (p<0.05). Rotavirus positivity was observed as 11.7% in female patients and 9.8% in male patients. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). No positivity of both adenovirus and rotavirus antigen was found in the patients. According to the seasonal distribution of viral agents, rotavirus was detected most frequently in winter and spring seasons, and adenovirus was detected most frequently in autumn.
Conclusion: In our study, adenovirus and rotaviruses were found to be important viral agents in acute gastroenteritis in childhood. Detection of viral agents in patients with acute gastroenteritis will provide early diagnosis and symptomatic treatment and will also prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics. In addition, the option to include the vaccine of rotavirus in the routine vaccination schedule should be considered in order to reduce gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus.