Monitoring of rotavirus infection in a paediatric hospital by RNA electrophoresis
Abstract
During the spring of 1987 and the autumn of 1988, stool specimens were collected from infants and young children in the paediatric unit at H. F. Verwoerd Hospital, Pretoria, and examined for the presence of rotaviruses to assess the potential for hospital-acquired infection in the paediatric wards. Stool samples were also collected from children admitted to the hospital for causes unrelated to gastro-enteritis to investigate the possible asymptomatic carriage of rotavirus in this population. Hospital-acquired rotavirus infection was detennined in only 9% of cases. Very little asymptomatic carriage of the virus was identified. Electrophoretic analysis of the rotavirus strains showed that the majority of the infections (20 of 42) were associated with a particular strain with a long RNA profile, while 7 minor strains co-circulated (5 with a long electrophoretype and 2 with a short one). An apparent small outbreak of nosocomial infection with a single strain was observed to occur in one of the paediatric wards during the spring and early summer.Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
