Molecular Detection And Epidemiology Of Norwalk-like Virus

Objective:1. To investigate the epidemiological characterization of Norwalk-like virus(NLVs) among children under 5 years old with non-bacterial diarrhea and identify the clinical characteristic and risk factors for sporadic NLVs infections.2. To study the pathogenic relation between NLVs and the acute non-bacterial diarrhea in adult, and determine the genotypes of the NLVs.Methods:1. Rotavirus were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA), and rotavirus-negative specimens were detected for NLVs by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). Some amplicons obtained from NLVs- positive stools were purified and sequenced. Phylogenetic tree was created for strain characterization and determine the predominant genotype of the NLVs.2. To assess the medical importance of NLVs infection, the clinical characteristics of children infected with NLVs were compared with those found in patients infected with rotavirus. And a 1:1 case-control study was performed with the objective of identifying the risk factors for sporadic NLVs infection. The potential risk factors investigated were the consumption of different foodstuffs, contact with gastroenteritis persons and personal hygiene. Returned questionnaires were coded and...