[Viral etiology in travellers' diarrhea]

Virological examinations were performed on stools obtained from 1,264 overseas travellers with diarrhea at Nagoya International Airport between 1986 and 1991. Group A rotavirus was detected in 11 samples (0.87%) by latex agglutination method, but other viral agents such as atypical rotaviruses and small round structured viruses were not observed by electron microscopic analysis. Rotaviruses were detected in various age groups, but the positive rate of rotavirus in females (6/398) was higher than that in males (5/866). Seasonal variation in the detection of rotavirus was observed. Entero 71 was isolated from one of 11 rotavirus-positive cases, but the other 10 cases were not associated with enteroviruses. All rotavirus-positive cases were negative for isolation of enteropathogenic bacteria.