65 episodes of rotavirus diarrhoea, detected during a longitudinal follow-up of 336 infants from birth to 24-32 months of age, were analyzed for clinical symptoms. Rotavirus gastroenteritis was characterized by watery diarrhoea, vomiting (particularly in older children), fever and dehydration. A 0-20 point numerical score was devised according to the distribution of clinical features in the patients. Using this system, the mean severity score for the 65 episodes of rotavirus diarrhoea was 11.0 +/- 3.7 as compared to 5.6 +/- 3.2 for the 183 episodes of non-rotavirus diarrhoea in the same population (p less than 0.0001, t-test). The 20 point score is proposed for analysis of efficacy studies of candidate rotavirus vaccines.

Rectal bleeding in infants is generally a benign and self-limiting disorder. Bloody stools occurred irregularly for only a few days during the following months. As in a previous report, most infants were exclusively breastfed. In the majority of the patients the cause of the condition remains unknown. An association with viruses can be seen in some patients. The microbes that commonly lead to bloody diarrhea in older children and adults, Salmonella, Shigella, and Yersinia, were absent in the present material. The low bifidobacterial numbers in fecal samples may indicate a significant aberrance that may provide a target for probiotic intervention to normalize gut microbiota. The gut microbiota overall seemed stable, because the numbers of major groups of microbiota tested did not change significantly between the time of admission and after 1 month. Cow's milk allergy among these patients is more uncommon than previously believed. Cow's milk challenge is thus essential in infants who become symptom-free during a cow's milk-free diet to reduce the number of false-positive cow's milk-allergy diagnoses.

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Objective: To systematically evaluate the feasibility and methodology to carry out wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) in children ,8 years to define small intestinal pathology.