Clinical associations of stool astrovirus in childhood

From among 1,248 stool specimens examined during the 2-year period, February 1979 to February 1981, astrovirus was detected by electron microscopy in 42 specimens from 28 children. Diarrhoea was an invariable clinical feature; vomiting occurred in 18 children, abdominal pain in 7, and mild dehydration in 5. Fourteen of the children with acute diarrhoea were admitted directly to the gastroenteritis unit. The other 14 children developed their acute diarrhoea sometime after hospital admission. Although the excretion of astrovirus was associated with mild gastroenteritis, the presence of other enteric pathogens in 16 of the 28 children limited the degree to which the clinical symptoms could be attributed to astrovirus alone. Transient monosaccharide intolerance lasting 1 to 2 days occurred in 18 children, and cow's milk protein intolerance requiring milk elimination for several months was a sequel in 3 children.