Astrovirus infection in young children with diarrhea hospitalized at Beijing Children's Hospital / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>This study was to assess certain epidemiological and clinical characteristics of astrovirus infection in children with diarrhea below 5 years old hospitalized at the Beijing Children's Hospital.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From September 1999 to August 2001, a total of 288 children with diarrhea below 5 years old hospitalized at Beijing Children's Hospital were studied. Fecal specimens collected from each patient were tested for astrovirus by using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and further serotyped by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using serotype-specific primers.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Astrovirus antigen was positive in 9.0% of the patients, and the rate of coinfection with rotavirus was 19.2% among the astrovirus positive patients. The patients with astrovirus infection were at the age of 7 days to 17 months, most (92.3%) of them were less than 12 months. Astrovirus infection occurred mainly between October and March of the following year. Main symptoms included watery stool, vomiting, fever, and dehydration. Increased activity of myocardial enzyme was seen in 4 patients. Of the 22 astrovirus positive specimens, 14 were successfully serotyped by RT-PCR and they were all serotype 1.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The overall incidence of astrovirus infection in young children with diarrhea hospitalized at the Beijing Children's Hospital was 9.0%. The predominant serotype was type 1. Astrovirus may play an important role in viral diarrhea in young children in Beijing, China.</p>

A case-control study on children with Guillain-Barre syndrome in North China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the risk factors for Guillain-Barre syndrome.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Case-control study design was used in 51 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, and 51 matched controls. All of the 51 cases in this study had been examined by electrophysiology. Serum IgG antibodies specific for C. jejuni were determined in all the subjects by ELISA. Each case and control were interviewed using an ad hoc questionnaire, including his/her demographic information, onset of the illness, their personal hygiene and so on.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The study showed that Guillain-Barre syndrome was associated with a few factors, such as polio vaccine immunization before onset of illness (OR=7.27), no hand washing after defecation and before meals (OR=6.15). Infection of C. jejuni was strongly associated with the illness (OR=9.5, P<0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>It is suggested that occurrence of Guillain-Barre syndrome may correlate to infection of C. jejuni and poor personal hygiene in children.</p>