Incidence and diagnosis of rotavirus infection in neonates: results of two studies.

The present study investigates the incidence of human rotavirus excretion in neonates of two hospitals. From April 1, 1983 to March 31, 1984, rotaviruses were detected with Rotazyme in the feces of 57 (15%) of 383 neonates at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Berne, in a total in 71 (5.2%) of the 1369 stool samples tested. Of the 57 neonates with Rotazyme-positive stool samples, 53 (93%) were asymptomatic. The problems of the specificity of Rotazyme in neonatal feces and the possibility of rapid testing on neonatology wards are discussed. In a prospective study carried out in April 1986 at the "Schweizerische Pflegerinnenschule in Zurich", rotaviruses were detected with genome gel electrophoresis in the feces of 15 (63%) of 24 risk neonates in the premature baby ward and in 36 (46%) of 79 neonates from the infant nursery, in a total in 63 (34%) of the 188 stool samples tested. In this rotavirus outbreak all rotaviruses detected showed the same band pattern, and therefore had an identical electrophorotype. Symptoms and hospital hygiene aspects of this outbreak will be dealt with in subsequent papers.