Three hundred and eighty-five children without a diagnosis of diarrhoeal illness had faecal specimens collected in order to detect rotavirus infection. The survey was conducted in Goiânia city--central Brazil and the children aged 0-11 years old were recruited (268 in day care centers and 117 from a local outpatient clinic--Hospital Lucio Rebelo). Detection of rotavirus was done by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE-SDS), and 89 specimens were also analyzed by commercial enzyme immunoassays for rotavirus and adenovirus (EIARA). Rotaviruses and adenoviruses were only detected among the children attending the outpatient clinic. Prevalence rates of rotavirus and adenovirus excretion were of 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. Both viruses were found among children from 1 to 2 years old.