Symptomatic human infection is caused by several distinct groups of viruses ( Table 17-7 ). Rotavirus accounts for an estimated 140 million cases and 1 million deaths worldwide per year.
The target population is children age 6 to 24 months, but young infants and debilitated adults are susceptible to symptomatic infection. This virus accounts for 25% to 65% of severe
diarrhea in infants and young children.[50] Rotavirus is an encapsulated virus with a segmented double-stranded RNA genome. Rotavirus selectively infects and destroys mature enterocytes
in the small intestine, without infecting crypt cells. The surface epithelium of the villus is repopulated by immature secretory cells. With the loss of absorptive function and excess of
secretory cells, there is net secretion of water and electrolytes, compounded by an osmotic diarrhea from incompletely absorbed nutrients. The minimal infective inoculum is approximately
10 viral particles, whereas an individual with rotavirus gastroenteritis typically sheds up to 1012 particles/mL stool. Thus, outbreaks among pediatric populations in hospitals and day-care
centers are very common. The clinical syndrome has an incubation period of approximately 2 days, which is followed by vomiting and watery diarrhea for several days. Viral infection can
induce protective immunity, but the protection for reinfection is often short-lived. Antirotavirus
TABLE 17-7-- Common Gastrointestinal Viruses
Virus Genome Size (nm)
% of U.S. Childhood
Viral Enterocolitis Host Age Mode of Transmission
Prodrome/Duration of
Illness
Rotavirus (Group A) dsRNA 70 60 6–24 months Person-to-person, food, water 2 days/3–5 days
Caliciviruses ssRNA 35–40 20 Child or adult Person-to-person, water, cold
foods, raw shellfish
1–3 days/4 days
••Norwalk-like viruses
••Sapporo-like viruses
Enteric adenoviruses dsDNA 80 8 Child <2 years Person-to-person 3–10 days/7+ days
Astroviruses ssRNA 28 4 Child Person-to-person, water, raw
shellfish
24–36 hours/1–4 days
Data from Goodgame RW: Viral causes of diarrhea. Gastroenterol Clin North Am 30:779,2001.
ds, double-stranded; ss, single stranded.
antibodies are present in mother's milk, so rotavirus infection is most frequent at the time of weaning.
Among the numerous types of adenovirus, the subtypes (enteric serotypes) Ad40, Ad41, and Ad31 appear to be responsible for enteric infections and are a common cause of diarrhea
among infants. They can be distinguished from adenoviruses that cause respiratory disease by their failure to grow easily in culture. Adenoviruses cause a moderate gastroenteritis with
diarrhea and vomiting, lasting for a week to 10 days after an incubation period of approximately 1 week. In the small intestine, adenoviral infection causes atrophy of the villi and
compensatory hyperplasia of the crypts similar to rotavirus, resulting in malabsorption and fluid loss. The virus can also cause colitis. Immunohistochemical stain of nuclear inclusions
facilitates the diagnosis.
Caliciviruses include two major groups: the classic Caliciviruses (Sapporo-like viruses) and the Norwalk-like viruses (small round structured viruses). Sapporo-like viral infection is rare,
while Norwalk virus, the prototype of Norwalk-like viruses, is responsible for the majority of cases of nonbacterial food-borne epidemic gastroenteritis in all age groups. Norwalk-like
viruses are small icosahedral viruses containing a single-stranded RNA genome. They cause epidemic gastroenteritis with diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting among children. Outbreaks occur
following exposure of multiple individuals to a common source. The clinical syndrome has an incubation period of 1 to 2 days, which is followed by 12 to 60 hours of nausea, vomiting,
watery diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
Astrovirus is named after its starlike appearance. It primarily affects children, (it accounts for 4% of acute gastroenteritis in young children), and has a worldwide distribution. Those
infected develop anorexia, headache, and fever. Other viruses such as enterotrophic coronaviruses and toroviruses are occasionally implicated in human diarrheal disease.
Despite the high incidence of viral gastroenteritis, insights into disease pathogenesis have been slow in coming.
Morphology.
Although the enteric viruses are genetically and morphologically different from each other, the lesions they cause in the intestinal tract are similar. The small intestinal mucosa usually
exhibits modestly shortened villi and infiltration of the lamina propria by lymphocytes. Vacuolization and loss of the microvillus brush border in surface epithelial cells may be evident, and
the crypts become hypertrophied. Viral particles may be visualized by electron microscopy within surface epithelial cells. In infants, rotavirus can produce a flat mucosa resembling celiac