Rotaviral Diarrhoea in Children: A Comparison of PAGE with ELISA

Abstract

Background: Rotavirus infects almost all children by the age of five. More than 150,000 annual deaths due to rota virus, occurs in India. Aims: This study aimed to determine the incidence of Rotavirus infection in children and compare enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a modified polyacrylamide gel elctrophoretic (PAGE) analysis in detection of rota virus in stool samples. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, a total of 200 stool samples were examined for the presence of Rota virus by ELISA and by a modified PAGE analysis of viral genome. Stool culture was done for common enteric pathogens. Results: Maximum incidence of rotavirus infection was seen in age group of 6m-24 m(32.3%). Excellent correlation of ELISA and PAGE results was found in194 of 200 (97%) specimens. A total of 51 (25.5%) of them were found to be positive for rotavirus by either methods. The proportion of ELISA +ve PAGE –ve samples 1/200 was lower than the proportion of ELISA-ve PAGE +ve samples (5/200). All 51 rotavirus positive cases did not show infection with bacterial pathogens. Conclusion: The modified PAGE technique for the detection of viral RNA was found to be rapid, simple, reliable and less expensive technique.

Keywords

• rotavirus
• polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (page) technique
• enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay (elisa)
• diahorrea