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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 18e
| Part 8. Infectious Diseases > Section 15. Infections Due to RNA Viruses > |
Chapter 190. Viral Gastroenteritis
Sections: Viral Gastroenteritis: Introduction, Further Readings.
Topics Discussed: gastrointestinal infections and enterotoxigenic poisonings; viral gastroenteritis.
Excerpt:"Acute infectious gastroenteritis is a common illness that affects persons of all ages worldwide. It is a leading cause of mortality among children in developing countries, accounting for an estimated 1.8 million deaths each year, and is responsible for up to 10–12% of all hospitalizations among children in industrialized countries, including the United States. Elderly persons, especially those with debilitating health conditions, are also at risk of severe complications and death from acute gastroenteritis. Among healthy young adults, acute gastroenteritis is rarely fatal but incurs substantial medical and social costs, including those of time lost from work.The Norwalk virus is the prototype strain of a group of nonenveloped, small (27–40 nm), round, icosahedral viruses with relatively amorphous surface features on visualization by electron microscopy. These viruses have been difficult to classify because they have not been adapted to cell culture, they often are shed in low titers for only a few days, and no animal models are available. Molecular cloning and characterization have demonstrated that the viruses have a single, positive-strand RNA genome  7.5 kb in length and that they possess a single virion-associated..."
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