Rotaviruses, Noroviruses, and Other Gastrointestinal Viruses

Viruses are a principal cause of acute infectious gastroenteritis, which is a syndrome of vomiting, watery diarrhea, or both that begins abruptly in otherwise healthy persons. Two distinct viruses account for much of these cases. Even after rotavirus vaccines were widely introduced, rotaviruses remain the most frequent cause of sporadic, severe gastroenteritis in young children, causing about 130,000 annual deaths in children younger than 5 years of age worldwide, mainly in developing countries that have not yet implemented widespread vaccination. Noroviruses are the primary cause of epidemic infectious gastroenteritis in both infants and adults in developed countries. For example, outbreaks of gastroenteritis in closed settings, such as cruise ships, military units, or nursing homes, are typical of norovirus infections. However, noroviruses are also an increasingly common cause of sporadic, mild to moderate gastroenteritis, mostly in young children.