Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of norovirus gastroenteritis among hospitalized children in Lebanon.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

To assess the burden of norovirus (NoV) and to determine the diversity of circulating strains among hospitalized children in Lebanon.

Methods

Stool samples were collected from children presenting with acute gastroenteritis to six major hospitals in Lebanon. A total of 739 eligible stool samples, testing negative for diarrhea caused by rotavirus as a possible viral pathogen, were collected between January 2011 and June 2013. A standardized questionnaire including demographic, epidemiological and clinical observations was used at the time of hospitalization of children presenting with diarrhea. Viral RNA was extracted from stool samples followed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing of a fragment of the viral protein 1 capsid gene. Mu

SUBMITTER: Melhem NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5192266 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature