Detection of rotavirus in fecal samples of infants and young children with acute diarrhea
Detection of rotavirus in fecal samples of infants and young children with acute diarrhea
Enas K. Abo-Elmagd,Kouka S. Abd El-Wahab,Azza H. El- Salakawy
ABSTRACT
Rotavirus infection (RV) is the leading cause of severe acute diarrhea among young children worldwide. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of RV infection is crucial for appropriate patient management and infection control. The aim of our study was to compare the diagnostic performance of Lateral flow immuno-chromatography assay (LFICA) as a rapid test for detection of RV antigen in stool specimens collected from Egyptian infants and young children with ELISA, and nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, to study the frequency of RV infection in Egyptian infants and young children during the summer season 2012 and the effect of certain risk factors including age and gender on the extent and impact of RV infection. The study included 73 infants and young children attending the pediatric Clinic,Al-Zhraa University Hospital in the period from May to October 2012. Their age ranged from six to twenty four months. They were 47 males and 26 females. Stool specimens were collected from all cases. These specimens were processed according to the manufacturer’s instructions for RV diagnosis. Out of the 73 tested specimens, 14 (19.2%) and 15 (20.5%) gave positive results for RV antigen by LFIC and ELISA respectively while 18 (24.7%) gave positive results for RV–RNA by nested RT-PCR. Infants <1 year old showed the highest rate of RV infection and male patients were at higher risk than females. In conclusion RV is a common etiological agent of serious diarrhea in infants and young children. RT-PCR is more sensitive than LFIC and ELISA in detecting RV infection. However, LFIC is a rapid and easy test that can aid in the detection of RV in pediatrics helping healthcare provider in making patient management decisions at the same office visit. Negative LFICA results do not rule out the infection with RV so these samples must be tested by another technique like RT-PCR.
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