Can colitis be in rotavirus infection?

Objective. To analyze the possible pathogenetic mechanisms of large intestinal lesion in children with rotavirus infection. Subjects and methods. A total of 460 pediatric patients with verified monoetiologic rotavirus infection were followed up; acute infectious gastroenterocolitis (AIGEC) was recorded in 12 (2.6 ± 0.7%) children of them; this was accompanied by hemocolitis in 1 (0.2 ± 0.2%) child. Every day clinical data were assessed in all the patients; clinical laboratory examination (fecal bacteriological test, fecal rotavirus antigen enzyme immunoassay, and PCR diagnosis) was performed. Results. Antibiotics were used in the patients with AIGEC significantly more frequently (by more than 5 times) prior to admission to hospital. Antibiotic therapy preceding acute enteric infections was ascertained to be the most significant risk factor for large intestinal lesion: it increased the incidence of AIGEC by 16.7-fold in rotavirus infection. Correspondingly, the chances of large intestinal lesion were 25.9 times higher (odds ratio) in these patients than in the comparison group. This factor is characterized by high specificity (0.84) and sensitivity (0.83) as to the cause-effect relation to large intestinal lesion. Conclusion. The key factor in the pathogenesis of colitis has been established to be the development of the disease in the presence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

antibiotic-associated diarrhea, rotavirus infection, colitis, children