Electron microscopy in the diagnosis of viral gastroenteritis in hospitalised children in the Czech Republic
Abstract
The study has been aimed at demonstrating the main role of viruses in the aetiology of acute gastroenteritis in children less than five years old. All children (n=832) were tested by faecal culture, latex agglutination and electron microscopy.
A bacterial aetiology was found in 2.6% children and bacterial-viral co-infection was found in 17.6% patients). The most frequent causative agents of gastroenteritis in children were viruses (74.5% patients.
The main causes of viral gastroenteritis were rotaviruses, followed by caliciviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses and astroviruses. Dual viral infections were detected with rotavirus-calicivirus co-infection being the most common.
Electron microscopy proved to be a more sensitive method in comparison with the latex agglutination test for the diagnosis of rotaviruses and adenoviruses. The major role of viruses in diarrhoeal diseases among children under 5 years of age in the Czech Republic has been confirmed.