ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the changes of common pathogens of viral diarrhea in children during the COVID-19 epidemic.Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on children with acute diarrhea treated in Children’s Hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University School of Medicine from 2019 April to 2019 December(before COVID-19, n=407)and 2020 April to 2020 December (during COVID-19, n=645). Children were further divided into 1-6 months, >6 months-2 years, >2-5 years age groups. Detection rates of norovirus GI (NOVI), norovirus GⅡ (NOVⅡ), rotavirus A (ROVA), rotavirus C (ROVC), intestinal adenovirus (EADV), sapovirus (SAV) and astrovirus (ASV) in different age groups and seasons before and during COVID-19 were compared by χ2 or Fisher exact test. Results:The total detection rates of diarrhea-causing viruses among age groups were significantly higher before COVID-19 than those during COVID-19( χ2=8.43, 38.22 and 9.23, all P<0.05). The detection rates of NOVⅡ and EADV in infants aged 1-6 months and >6 months-2 years were decreased during the period of COVID-19 epidemic( χNOVⅡ2 =36.87 and 17.77, both P<0.001, χEADV2 =9.08, P=0.014 and 0.003); the detection rates of NOVⅡ in children aged 2-5 years was decreased during the period of COVID-19 epidemic( χ2=3.96, P=0.047); the detection rates of other diarrhea-causing viruses were not decreased during the period of COVID-19 epidemic(all P>0.05). The detection rates of diarrhea-causing viruses among 4-6 months, 7-9 months and 10-12 months were higher during the period of COVID-19 epidemic( χ2=11.62, 65.41 and 27.80, all P<0.001). Conclusion:After the outbreak of COVID-19, the detection rate of common pathogens of viral diarrhea in children is decreased, especially NOVⅡ and EADV, which may be related to the measures in response to major public health events in Zhejiang Province.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the distribution of diarrhea pathogens in infants without rotavirus-detection in Hangzhou. Methods 605 stool samples of children with rotavirus-negative diarrhea were collected from Hangzhou First People's Hospital of Zhejiang University, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Children's Hospital from March 2017 to June 2018. The routine test results were analyzed retrospectively and Bristol score was used for the characteristics of stool samples. DNA and/or RNA were extracted from fecal samples with DNA and RNA extraction kit. The extracted DNA and RNA-reversed cDNA were used as templates. 7 common pathogens DNA and/or RNA were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The amplified products were detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. The positive rates of pathogens were analyzed by chi-square test. Results Among 605 children, 375 were male (28±11) months and 230 were female (29±10) months. Bristol score of stool samples was mainly in type 6 (496, 82％), followed by type 7 (85, 14％) and type 5 (24, 4％). Among 605 results 97 cases were occult blood positive (positive rate 16％) and 170 cases were white blood cell positive (positive rate 28％).452 of 605 stool samples were positive for pathogen target genes. The positive rate was 74.7％. 319 cases detected single pathogen gene fragments. 127 cases detected two pathogen genes and 6 cases detected three pathogen gene fragments. The positive rate of Clostridium difficile toxin B (48.9％, 296/605)was the highest than the others, followed by Salmonella (20.0％, 121/605) and Norovirus (10.9％, 66/605). The positive rate of Clostridium difficile toxin A was 1.0％ (6/605). The positive rates of pathogens in male and female children were 86.7％(325 / 375) and 86.5％ (199 / 230) respectively, with (χ2 =0.002, P=0.959). Conclusions Salmonella and Norovirus were the main pathogens in children with diarrhea who were negative for rotavirus detection in Hangzhou. The high positive rate of Clostridium difficile toxin B may be related to the colonization of Clostridium difficile in the gastrointestinal tract of infants rather than the pathogen of diarrhea because of the low positive rate of Clostridium difficile toxin A. There was no gender difference in the detection rate of diarrhea pathogens.