[The role of rotaviruses in digestive tract infections of hospitalized children with diarrhoea at the Health Care Consortium in Sokoł Podlaski].

The aim of the study was a trial of establishing of the frequency of rotavirus infection and mixed bacterial-viral infections in children treated for diarrhoea in a hospital in the period from July 1 1996 to June 30 1997. Moreover, an attempt was made at establishing of the frequency of rotavirus colonization of the digestive tract in healthy newborns born in that hospital during the period of that study. The studies were done on feces samples from 169 children with diarrhoea from 4 days to 13 years, and from 30 healthy peers. In all samples rotaviruses were sought along with pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae Tests for rotaviruses were done with Slidex-Rota Kit 2 (Bio-Merieux) and for EPEC with the EPEC latex test (Biomex). In all, rotaviruses were found in 88 ill children (52.1%) including mixed bacterial-viral infections in 10 (5.1%) children. In 9 children beside rotaviruses enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) were disclosed, and in 1 child S. enteritidis. Moreover, in 1 child (0.6%) culture yielded simultaneously S. sonnei and E. coli 0127. No rotaviruses were found in any 30 healthy newborns, but from one of them E. coli 018 was cultured. The second most frequent aetiological factor in diarrhoea were EPEC organisms found in 17 (10.0%) children, the third factor were S. enteritidis strains in 6 children (3.6%). In one case S. sonnei and E. coli 0127 were obtained from faces. Rotavirus infection was most frequent in children aged from 2 months to 3 years, and EPEC infection in children up to 2 years. The incidence was highest in winter/spring, with peak in April when 27 cases of rotavirus diarrhoea were noted.