High Incidence of Staphylococcus aureus and Norovirus Gastroenteritis in Infancy: A Single-Center, 1-Year Experience

PURPOSE: The etiology of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) has changed since the introduction of the rotavirus vaccination. The aim of this study was to clarify which common pathogens, both bacterial and viral, are currently causing AGE in infants. METHODS: Infants with acute diarrhea were enrolled. We tested for 10 bacterial pathogens and five viral pathogens in stool specimens collected from infants with AGE. The clinical symptoms such as vomiting, mucoid or bloody diarrhea, dehydration, irritability, and poor oral intake were recorded, and laboratory data such as white blood cell count and C-reactive protein were collected. The clinical and laboratory data for the cases with bacterial pathogens and the cases with viral pathogens were compared. RESULTS: Of 41 total infants, 21 (51.2%) were positive for at least one pathogen. Seventeen cases (41.5%) were positive for bacterial pathogens and seven cases (17.1%) were positive for viral pathogens. Staphylococcus aureus (13 cases, 31.7%) and Clostridium perfringens (four cases, 9.8%) were common bacterial pathogens. Norovirus (five cases, 12.2%) was the most common viral pathogen. Fever and respiratory symptoms were common in the isolated viral infection group (p=0.023 and 0.044, respectively), whereas other clinical and laboratory data were indistinguishable between the groups. CONCLUSION: In our study, S. aureus (41.5%) and norovirus (12.2%) were the most common bacterial and viral pathogens, respectively, among infants with AGE.