Viral Agents of Diarrhea in Young Children in Two Primary Health Centers in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Enteric viruses have been shown to be responsible for diarrhea among children during their early childhood. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of rotavirus, adenovirus, and norovirus infection in young children with diarrhea in two primary health centers in Edo State, Nigeria. A total of 223 stool specimens were collected from children aged 0–36 months with clinical signs of diarrhea and 59 apparently healthy age-matched children as control. These specimens were investigated for three viral agents using immunochromatographic technique (ICT). The overall results showed that at least one viral agent was detected in 95/223 (42.6%) of the children with diarrhea while the control had none. The prevalence of rotavirus was 28.3%, adenovirus 19.3%, and norovirus 3.6%. There was a significant association between age group and infection (P < 0.0001). Seasonal pattern of enteric viruses was not statistically significant (P = 0.17). The overall coinfection rate was 7.6% and rotavirus-adenovirus coinfection had the highest with 5.4%. Rotavirus was the most prevalent viral agent. Coinfections are not uncommon among the population studied. The most commonly associated clinical symptom of viral diarrhea in this study was vomiting. Viral diagnostic tests are advocated for primary health care facilities in this locality.

Epidemiology of enteric viruses in children with gastroenteritis in Ogun State, Nigeria

“…Comparing the EVs, the age distribution of patients with viral gastroenteritis was not statistically significant, but they were detected mainly in children 0 to 24 months, which is in agreement with reports from Nigeria . Consistent with the findings from Angola, Gabon, and Nigeria, the burden of viral gastroenteritis in this study is predominantly in males, although there was no significant association.…”

“…Worldwide, RVA is responsible for many deaths, mainly among young children in Asia and Africa . RVA was detected in 16.6% cases, which is lower to studies from Angola, Burkina Faso, Northern Italy, Enugu, and Edo States, Nigeria . Both NoV and HAdV in this study were found in 5.1% of children with gastroenteritis which is similar to that reported in Republic Democratic of Congo and North East, Nigeria but lower compared with studies in Albania, Burkina Faso, Northern Italy, and Ondo State, Nigeria .…”

“…A relatively low frequency of coinfection (9.7%) was observed in this study, which is lower than previously reported in Burkina Faso (35.7%) and Brazil (14%), but higher compared with studies from China (5.2%), Northern Italy (2.3%), and Nigeria (7.1%) . This disparity amongst studies may be due to the number of viruses analyzed, viral detection methods, season of sampling, and sample size.…”

“…Worldwide, the prevalence of enteric viruses (EVs) in children with acute gastroenteritis has been reported to range from 29.6% to 85.6% . Previous studies in Nigeria showed the different prevalence of EVs infection . Differences between these studies were largely due to different epidemiological characteristics of the populations studied, distinct diagnostic methods used, availability of vaccine and vaccine coverage for rotavirus, among others.…”

Detection and genotyping of human adenovirus and sapovirus in children with acute gastroenteritis in Belém, Pará, between 1990 and 1992: first detection of GI.7 and GV.2 sapoviruses in Brazil

“…Epidemiological data have shown that both viruses are circulating around the world, with prevalence rates of 16.2-19.3% for HAdV detected by immunochromatography 4,5 and 0.8-5% for SaV 6,7 detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In Brazil, some investigations have reported HAdV and SaV infections among hospitalized children in the Northern Region, with prevalence rates of 2-10% and 2.5-5.9%, respectively, based on enzyme immunoassay (EIA), PCR, and RT-PCR methodologies [8][9][10][11] .…”