Prevalence and Clinical Profile of Human Salivirus in Children with Acute Gastroenteritis in Northern Italy, 2014-2015

Abstract

Objective: Human Salivirus (SalV) has been associated with gastroenteritis on all continents. Methods: This paper presents the real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of SalV in clinical fecal samples collected from 192 hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis in Piedmont, Italy. Results: The most commonly detected virus was Norovirus genogroup II (GII) (33.8%), followed by Rotavirus (21.3%), Sapovirus (10.9%), Parechovirus (8%), Norovirus GI (6.7%), and Adenovirus (1%). PCR detected SalV in 1 (0.5%) subject. Conclusions: Our data show that the detection rate of SalV in diarrheal children (0.5%) is lower than that observed in other countries, where it is reported in diarrheal children in 8.6-1.2% of patients.