Relative Frequency of Sapovirus Among Children Under 5 Years of Age With Acute Gastroenteritis at the Aboozar Hospital, Ahvaz, Iran

Gastroenteritis is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in humans allover the world, especially in infants under 5 years of age. Many microorganisms, includingviruses, have been identified as the causative agents of gastroenteritis. Sapovirus is a majorcausative agent of acute viral diarrhea that occurs mostly in children under 5 years of age. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Sapovirus infectionamong children under 5 years of age who had gastroenteritis and were referred to AboozarHospital, Ahvaz, Iran.Patients and All fecal specimens were collected from children with acute gastroenteritis,Sapovirus RNA was extracted using TRIzol and detected by reverse transcriptasepolymerasechain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by sequencing of the positive samples. Of the 200 clinical stool samples collected, 6 (3%; 5 samples from male patients and1 from a female patient) were found to be positive for Sapovirus by the RT-PCR method.The identityof the PCR products was confirmed by sequencing. Sapoviruses belonging togenogroup II were identified as the dominant type causing gastroenteritis in children. Theincidence of Sapovirus infection was the highest during the coldest months. Sapovirus prevalence in children under the age of 5 years with acute gastroenteritiswas 3%, and genogroup ІІ was the dominant type.