The Role of Viruses in Acute Diarrhoeal Disease

Epidemiology and aetiology of acute childhood diarrhoea in Burma: a rural community survey

Identical epidemiological and microbiological surveys were carried out in a rural community at Intakaw, Burma, in 2 months, one in the hot wet and the other in the cool dry season. The incidence of diarrhoea was highest in children under 3 years old and in the hot wet month when enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was the predominant pathogen. Rotavirus was the commonest pathogen in the cool dry month but was absent in the hot wet month. Shigellae, salmonellae and campylobacter were isolated in both seasons, but were not significantly commoner in patients than in controls. Vibrios and Yersinia enterocolitica were sought but not found in any specimen.

Diarrheal diseases in Brazil: clinical features of rotavirus-associated gastroenteritis in children

This study was undertaken to detect the presence of rotavirus in the stools of children with gastroenteritis, using the enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and to compare the signs and symptoms of rotavirus-positive and -negative children. Over a period of fifteen months, 367 children ranging in age from less than 1 month to 5 years or more with diarrhea and 86 children, in the same age group, without diarrhea and respiratory infections, used as controls, were evaluated. Human rotavirus was detected in 15.8% of children with diarrhea attending out-patient clinics and in 28.9% of patients seen by general practitioners. In the control groups, the percentages of identification of rotavirus were 1.4% and 5.5% respectively. Frequency of other enteropathogens was determined. The hydration state of diarrheal cases, different clinical symptoms and the type of medical attendance distinguished the rotavirus positive from the rotavirus negative patients.

Virally induced alterations in cellular permeability: a basis of cellular and physiological damage?

Virally induced permeability changes occur when haemolytic paramyxoviruses are added to cells; similar (though not identical) changes take place during infection of cells with viruses from several families (including paramyxoviruses). These changes occur in intact, viable cells, and precede subsequent cytopathic effects, to which they are likely to contribute. There is accumulating evidence to suggest that virally induced permeability changes may also underlie the physiological and clinical consequences of viral infection in certain situations.

Detection of astroviruses in feces of a cat with diarrhea. Brief report

Astroviruses were detected by electron microscopy in the feces from a 4 month old kitten with diarrhea. The mean diameter of the viral particles was 28.7 nm, and they showed characteristic five- or six-pointed star-shaped surface configurations. The clinical disease manifested by the cat and the observed morphology of the viral particles are consistent with previous reports on astroviruses of other species.