Astrovirus and Rotavirus Co-Infections in Children With Gastroenteritis who Were Referred to Ahvaz Aboozar Hospital, Southern Iran

Acute gastroenteritis, which is one of the most common diseases in humans,isresponsible for many illnesses in both children and adults. Group A rotaviruses are consideredthe main agents of gastroenteritis, and these are followed by calciviruses, adenoviruses,and astroviruses. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of astrovirus and rotavirus coinfectionamong children up to 5 years of age who had gastroenteritis and who were referred toAhvaz Aboozar Hospital.Patients and A total of 180 stool specimens, which were collected from childrenwith gastroenteritis who were less than 5 years old and who were referred to Ahvaz AboozarHospital, were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods for the detection ofrotavirus infections. Detection of astroviruses in positive rotavirus stool specimens was performedby reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods. Fifty-nine of the 180 samples were positive for rotavirus infection. These positivesamples were subjected to RT-PCR to test forastrovirus. After RT-PCR with specific astrovirusprimer sets, 8 samples were positive for astrovirus as well. Therefore, 13% of rotavirus-positivesamples were also positive for astrovirus. Group A rotaviruses, in addition tocalciviruses, adenoviruses, and astroviruses,can cause acute gastroenteritis. Studies have shown that 2.5 million deaths occur every yearfrom gastroenteritis. In this study, we found that the prevalence of rotavirus infections wasvery high and that of coinfections of rotavirus and astrovirus were considerable. In order toreduce the risk of infections and to eliminate viral gastroenteritis in this zone of the region,education, vaccinations, and improved personal hygiene must be improved.