ABSTRACT
Viruses are important causes of diarrhea. In addition to rotavirus, other viruses are increasingly being identified as causative agents of gastroenteritis. The objectives of this study were to differentiate between bacterial and non-bacterial diarrhea by rapid methods and to study the role of astrovirus in acute infantile diarrhea and its clinical features. The study was conducted on 100 admitted infants with acute diarrhea and twenty healthy infants were included as controls. The studied infants were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, complete blood count and measuring of interleukin-6 [IL-6] and tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha] in serum. Stool analysis, stool culture and detection of rotavirus and astrovirus in stools of studied patients were carried out. The results showed that TNF-alpha and IL-6 were significantly higher in infants with bacterial diarrhea compared to controls [p<0.05]. Astrovirus was diagnosed in 5% of studied acute diarrheal cases. There was a significant increase in occurrence of viral diarrhea in winter compared to summer. No significant difference in age incidence or clinical features could be detected in cases of astrovirus compared to rotavirus infection [p>0.05]
Conclusion: TNF-alpha and IL-6 can differentiate rapidly bacterial diarrhea from non-bacteriai ones" Astrovirus plays a role in causation of acute infantile diarrhea