Human caliciviruses in symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in children in Vellore, South India.

Pediatric gastroenteritis is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries. It has been increasingly recognised that human caliciviruses (HuCV), comprising noroviruses (NoV), and sapoviruses (SaV), are important in both outbreak and non-outbreak settings. This study aimed to characterise caliciviruses detected in the faeces of hospitalized children and children in the community in India.

Comparative study of the epidemiology of rotavirus in children from a community-based birth cohort and a hospital in South India.

Rotavirus gastroenteritis is the major cause of severe dehydrating diarrhea in children worldwide. This study compares rotavirus diarrhea in 351 children in a community-based cohort and 343 children admitted to a hospital during the same period. Clinical information and fecal specimens were obtained during diarrheal episodes.

Multilocus genotyping of Cryptosporidium sp. isolates from human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals in South India.

This study characterized cryptosporidial infections in 48 human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals in India by multilocus genotyping. Cryptosporidium hominis, C. parvum, C.

Quantitation of group A rotavirus by real-time reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction: correlation with clinical severity in children in South India.

The epidemiology and pathogenesis of rotaviruses are not completely understood, although recent developments in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques now make it possible to quantify the viral load during an infective episode and investigate its relevance to clinical features of the disease. We studied rotavirus-positive stool samples collected from 10 children without symptoms of gastroenteritis and from 81 children with acute gastroenteritis and in whom the clinical severity of disease was recorded. A semi-quantitative real-time reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR was used to estimate the rotavirus load and to assess its correlation with the Vesikari score for severity of diarrhoea.