Background: This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of enterovirus (EV) infections in children at a single hospital during recent 5 years. This study was preformed from December 2008 to November 2013.
Methods: We subjected 1,067 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from 1,053 patients and 678 stool specimens from 665 patients using real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction tests that could detect EV. The data were analyzed according to seasonality and patient age and sex.
Results: During this period, 176 of the total 1,053 patients (16.81%) were positive for EV in CSF. The highest rate of EV-positive samples occurred in children less than 1 year of age (114/176, 64.77%), and the most prevalent month was June. The results for CSF and stool specimens were concordant in 545 (80.38%) of 678 cases.
Conclusion: We described the epidemiological analytic data of the EV in the population of Cheonan, South Korea. The combination of the CSF and stool specimen enhances the diagnostic yield. There is a need for continuous study of EV infections and its clinical manifestations.
Keywords: CSF; children; distribution; epidemiology; stool; viral infection.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.