ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Gastro-enteritis continues to be a significant cause of mortality in infants and young children in developing countries. Some previous studies have associated echoviruses with gastroenteritis. OBJECTIVE: To look for other viral agents causing gastro-enteritis in stool samples of infants and young children admitted with diarrhoea in an urban hospital in Kenya by electron microscopy. DESIGN: A cross sectional study. SETTING: Mbagathi District Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS: One hundred infants and young children admitted in the hospital due to gastro-enteritis and found to be negative for group A rotaviruses. RESULTS: We report a virus designated KE/CVR-99 which was recovered from the faeces of a one year old male child hospitalised for gastro-enteritis. Virus particles measuring 20-25 nm in diameter were detected by electron microscopy from the stool of the child hospitalised with gastro-enteritis. After injecting the viral particles intracerebrally in newborn suckling mice which were then observed daily for signs of illness, no sign of paralysis or any other form of illness was detected. Cytopathic effect was observed in rhabdomyosarcoma cells within six days of incubation whereas no cytopathic effect was observed in L-20 B cells. We identified the virus after typing against known anti-sera to a panel of enteroviruses. This virus was found to be Echovirus 7. CONCLUSION: This is the first case report of echovirus 7 in association with gastro-enteritis and detection by electron microscopy in Kenya.
