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The prevalence of asymptomatic norovirus (NoV) infection was investigated in children registered for kindergarten in Korea during the winter and summer. Children with no gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea and abdominal pain, during the 2 weeks before and following sample collection were included in this investigation. NoV presence and genetic identification were determined with real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and conventional nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The prevalence of NoV in asymptomatic children was 5.5% in the winter and 3.5% in the summer, respectively. GII.4 was the most prevalent NoV genotype, but GII.2 and GI.10 were also found during genetic analysis. This study demonstrates that asymptomatic NoV infection may be an important source of transmission in kindergarten children.

This study aimed to develop a specific and sensitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (RT-PCR-ELISA) for detecting hepatitis E virus (HEV). Eight sets of primers and biotinylated probes designed in the ORF2-ORF3 overlapping region of HEV were tested for sensitivity. The ability of nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and RT-PCR-ELISA to detect HEV was compared. RT-PCR-ELISA was 10-100 times more sensitive than nested RT-PCR and could detect 0.01 ng/μl HEV in swine stool samples. In terms of specificity, RT-PCR-ELISA did not falsely detect HEV when other viruses such as hepatitis A virus, rotavirus, norovirus genotype I, norovirus genotype II, and Feline calicivirus were present. Therefore, RT-PCR-ELISA appears to be a sensitive and specific method for detecting HEV.

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