Adenoviruses associated with acute gastroenteritis in hospitalized and community children up to 5 years old in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, Brazil.

Acute gastroenteritis is a major source of morbidity and mortality among young children in developed and developing countries. Human adenoviruses (HAdVs), and in particular species F, are related to childhood diarrhoea worldwide. This study presents the results obtained during an investigation of HAdVs causing acute gastroenteritis in children hospitalized in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, from April 1996 to September 2003, as well as in children with diarrhoea living in the slums of Salvador, BA, Brazil, from October 2001 to September 2003.