High Prevalence and Increased Severity of Norovirus Mixed Infections Among Children 12–24 Months of Age Living in the Suburban Areas of Lima, Peru

• DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piv001
• Publication Date: 2015-02-06T05:15:47Z
• Authors: Mara Zambruni; Giannina Luna; Maria Silva; Daniel G. Bausch; Fulton P. Rivera; Grace Velapatino; Miguel Campos; Elsa Chea-Woo; Nelly Baiocchi; Thomas G. Cleary; Theresa J. Ochoa
• Keywords: Diarrhea; Male; 0301 basic medicine; childhood diarrhea; https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#3.03.08; norovirus; 03 medical and health sciences; Peru; Prevalence; Coinfection/epidemiology; Humans; Diarrhea/epidemiology/microbiology; https://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#3.02.03; Caliciviridae Infections; Suburban Population/statistics & numerical data; Coinfection; Bacterial Infections; Gastroenteritis/epidemiology; Gastroenteritis; Suburban Population; 3. Good health; Caliciviridae Infections/epidemiology; enteropathy; Female; Peru/epidemiology; gastroenteritis; Bacterial Infections/epidemiology

In an active diarrhea surveillance study of children aged 12-24 months in Lima, Peru, norovirus was the most common pathogen identified. The percentage of mixed (bacterial and noroviral) infections was significantly higher among norovirus-positive samples (53%) than among norovirus-negative samples (12%). The combination of norovirus with the most common bacterial pathogens was associated with increased clinical severity over that of either single-pathogen norovirus or single-pathogen bacterial infections.