Journal of medical virology
-
Calicivirus was detected in 8 (1.2%) of 647 hospitalized patients during a survey of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children, conducted between December 1974 and September 1977. Morphologically calicivirus was approximately 30 nm in diameter with an easily recognizable staining "star of David" configuration. ⋯ The serologic response to calicivirus by immune electron microscopy (IEM) was demonstrated only in paired sera from patients who shed the virus in their stools. The results suggest that calicivirus might be a cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children.
-
In October 1977 an outbreak of acute infectious diarrhea occurred in an infant home in the city of Sapporo, Japan. Of 34 residents aged two to 20 months, 26 (77%) suffered from diarrhea. In ten of these patients the diarrhea was accompanied by vomiting. ⋯ One patient with lack of antibody response was the youngest child--two months old. Periodic surveys on enteric viruses circulating in the home revealed that calicivirus was specifically associated with the outbreak of gastroenteritis. These observations provide further evidence for the causative role of calicivirus in acute gastroenteritis in children.
-
Rat tracheal organ culture (TOC) supported replication of parainfluenza 1 (6/94) virus. Cell-associated and cell-free viruses were found after primary infection of TOC. In contrast to other mammalian systems, rat TOC was capable of maintaining 6/94 virus infectivity after primary infection. Rat TOC may be considered a potential indicator system that could be used to detect virus latent in human tissue.
-
Noncultivable viruses have been associated with diarrhea affecting newborn babies in obstetric hospital nurseries. Persisting infection in a special care nursery in Melbourne, Australia, permitted a study of the pattern of excretion of these viruses. Ten babies admitted to the nursery within 2 hr of birth were randomly selected for prospective study. ⋯ It is concluded that most newborn babies admitted to a nursery where duovirus infection is endemic will excrete this virus at least once during the first 2 weeks of life. Excretion of virus particles will either precede development of diarrhea or be asymptomatic. Selective isolation of babies with diarrhea is thus unlikely to control spread of duovirus infection within a hospital nursery.