Prevalence of enteric adenovirus from acute gastroenteritis: a five year study.

Adenoviruses were detected in the stools in 459 of 3932 (11.6%) pediatric children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis from January 1981 to December 1985. Out of the 459 adenovirus specimens 325 (8.3%) were presumptively identified as enteric adenovirus both by an adenovirus genus specific ELISA and by growth characteristics of adenovirus isolates in HEp-2 cells and in 293 cells. Enteral adenoviruses were found endemic since these viruses have been found for 5 successive years. A seasonal variation in the rates of adenovirus was also observed. Comparative data of rotavirus prevalence in the same study population are reported.