Rotavirus infection in a geriatric population

Abstract

An outbreak of gastroenteritis affected 19 of 34 geriatric patients and four of 23 staff assigned to the ward in a period of 3 1/2 weeks in January 1980. Fourteen of the 19 patients with gastroenteritis (17 were tested properly) and four of the ten asymptomatic patients (five asymptomatic patients were not tested) showed evidence of rotavirus infection by virus positivity and/or a significant antibody response to rotavirus. One of the four staff members with gastroenteritis showed serologic evidence (three were tested) of rotavirus infection. Nine of the 18 asymptomatic staff members (two remaining staff members were not tested) showed a fourfold rise in antibody to rotavirus but four had antibody titers of 1:32 or more. The patients had diarrhea for a mean of 2.6 days. Most of them had five or fewer diarrheal stools in one day. Six patients had a severe illness and two died. Thirteen of 15 symptomatic patients who had serum samples, collected during the acute and convalescent phases, tested manifested high titers (greater than or equal to 1:32) of complement-fixing antibody to rotavirus antigen.

Infectious Diarrhea in Developed and Developing Countries

“…144 Rotavirus has also been described endemically in adult bone marrow transplant patients 145 and in outbreaks among geriatric populations. 53,146,147 Noroviruses are increasingly recognized as a common cause of nosocomial outbreaks of gastroenteritis worldwide. 133 36 Most cases of nosocomial norovirus diarrhea occur in the elderly and the very young, with symptoms lasting 2 to 3 days.…”

Antirotaviral activity of milk proteins: lactoferrin prevents rotavirus infection in the enterocyte-like cell line HT-29

“…Although increasing efforts are ongoing to develop effective vaccines against rotaviral infections, the currently available vaccines, while protective against severe diarrhoea in developed countries, have not been demonstrated to be clinically usefull against any diarrhoea [4,5]. Moreover, as rotaviruses also cause severe infections in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation and suffering from a variety of immunodeficiency conditions [6][7][8], there is the need of alternative means of protection besides vaccination.…”

Nosocomial rotavirus infections in neonates: Means of prevention and control

“…Nosocomial HRV infections in infants aged between five months and two years old [4,5,7,13,18] as well as in adults [6,11] are characterized by gastroenteritic clinical pictures, which are more frequently manifested. On the other hand, diarrhea due to HRV in neonates infected with this virus have so far been reported to occur very much more rarely.…”

“…Infants aged between five months and two years old show the characteristic symptoms of gastroenteritis especially frequently [4,5,7,13,18], but other age groups may also be affected [6,11]. The raised occurrence of nosocomial HRV infections at specific times is frequently associated with cases of the disease in the domestic-municipal community.…”

“…The raised occurrence of nosocomial HRV infections at specific times is frequently associated with cases of the disease in the domestic-municipal community. Children (but also adults) who show a relatively severe course of HRV gastroenteritis, necessitating hospital treatment may become index cases of epidemic outbreaks in hospitals with susceptible patients, especially in pediatric hospitals or wards [3,5,11].…”