OBJECTIVES:

To detect the presence and to define the human adenovirus (HAdV) types from individuals under 3 years old in two research projects on viral gastroenteritis in Belém, Pará State, Brazil: the first, an inpatient and outpatient surveillance study on rotavirus (RV) pre-vaccination performed by Instituto Evandro Chagas from March to September 2003; and the second, from the "Rotavirus Case-Control" (post vaccination) study, carried out from May 2008 to April 2009, with hospitalized children due to acute gastroenteritis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Faecal samples were tested from 1,160 children using immunoenzymatic assay and immunochromatography techniques for screening, polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing for typing and molecular identification.

RESULTS:

HAdV were found in 7.2% (84/1,160) of the samples, and enteric adenoviruses in 5.0% (58/1,160), equivalent to 69.0% (58/84) of the positive cases. Of these, 3.3% (25/760) were from the RV pre-vaccination study and 8.2% (33/400) from the post-vaccination. The sequencing reaction characterized the F specie as the most prevalent in the region, equivalent to 70.0% (21/30), with the type 41 in 85.7% (18/21) of the positive cases.

CONCLUSION:

These results showed HAdV circulation among the infant population in Belém, demonstrating its importance as gastroenteritis agent either hospitalized or not, both before and after the RV vaccine introduction on the Brazilian public health network.

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