TruQuick™ Rota/Adeno Combo

Acute diarrhea disease in young children is a major cause of morbidity worldwide and is a leading cause of mortality in developing countries.1 Rotavirus is the most common agent responsible for acute gastroenteritis, mainly in young children.2 Its discovery in 1973 and its association with infantile gastroenteritis represented a very important advancement in the study of gastroenteritis not caused by acute bacterial infection. Rotavirus is transmitted by oral-fecal route with an incubation period of 1-3 days. Although specimens collected within the second and fifth day of the illness are ideal for antigen detection, the rotavirus may still be found while diarrhea continues. Rotaviral gastroenteritis may result in mortality for populations at risk such as infants, the elderly and immunocompromised patients.3 In temperate climates, rotavirus infections occur mainly in the winter months. Endemics as well as epidemics affecting some thousand people have been reported.4 With hospitalized children suffering from acute enteric disease, up to 50% of the analyzed specimen are positive for rotavirus.5 The viruses replicate in the cell nucleus and tend to be host species specific, producing a characteristic cytopathic effect (CPE). Because rotavirus is extremely difficult to culture, it is unusual to use isolation of the virus in diagnosing an infection. Instead, a variety of techniques have been developed to detect rotavirus in feces.