The clinical features of infantile gastroenteritis due to rotavirus.

The symptoms of 100 hospitalised cases of rotavirus infantile gastroenteritis are described. Most patients presented with high fever between the 2nd and 5th day, having started with diarrhoea or vomiting or both. 42% of the infants had upper respiratory tract symptoms. Severe electrolyte disturbance did not occur, although there was a suggestion of a correlation between the higher blood ureas and the number of rotavirus particles in the stools. The mean duration of illness of uncomplicated cases was 13.4 days. Infants were more severely affected when enteropathic coliforms were also present, the total duration of illness being extended to 23 days. It is suggested that rotavirus or similar virus infection may be an essential precursor in the majority of coliform gastroenteritis.