Stool viruses among paediatric patients from a Nairobi clinic, Kenya

To document the clinical presentation and prevalence of stool viruses among children presenting with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) at Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.

Retrospective case-control study.

A private paediatric clinic in Nairobi.

Viral antigen was detectable in the stool samples of 21 (rotavirus alone in ten cases, adenovirus alone in seven cases, and both viruses in four cases). Diarrhoea was almost universally present (20/21 cases) and was reported more frequently than in a control group of ten children with clinical acute gastroenteritis whose stools tested negative for viruses. Fever, an elevated total leukocyte count, and neutrophilia were commonly observed in patients with viral gastroenteritis. Eight children with viral AGE were treated with antibiotics and eight children were admitted to hospital.

A viral etiology can frequently be identified among children in Nairobi with AGE. Fever, an elevated leukocyte count, and neutrophilia were not helpful in differentiating viral from non-viral AGE in this series. Supportive management consisting of outpatient oral rehydration therapy without antibiotic treatment should be considered in the non-toxic child with AGE.