Incidence of rotavirus in the Menino Jesus Pediatric Hospital (SP): ELISA--a practical and efficient method for its detection

Seventy infants and children with age from 2 months to 4 years old were admitted to "Hospital Infantil Menino Jesus", in S?o Paulo, Brazil, in the period from March 1983 to June 1984 with acute diarrhea. Feces from these patients were analysed in the search of rotavirus and enteropathogenic bacteria (Shigella, Salmonella and E. coli), for the purpose of defining the role of rotavirus as an agent of acute diarrhea in infants and young children in this country. ELISA (Enzyme-linked Immuno Sorbent Assay) was the method of choice for the search of rotavirus, because of its simplicity of management and the high sensitivity of the results. Rotavirus alone was imputed as the cause of acute diarrhea in 12 patients (17.7%), with ages from 2 months to 3 years old and in 2 patients in association with Shigella. All but one of the patients with rotavirus were undernourished and none of the infants had been breast fed before the disease.