Rotavirus infection in New Zealand.

Rotavirus infection is commonly found in young infants admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for virus diagnosis is described and the results of testing stool specimens from 497 children with gastroenteritis, 192 neonates and 247 asymptomatic six month old infants are presented. Rotavirus infection was found in 45 percent of all children with gastroenteritis but only in 4.7 percent of neonates and 2 percent of asymptomatic infants. These results do not support the proposal that children in our community have a high incidence of subclinical infections.