This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

An Analysis of 21 Cases

Jacqueline A. K. Carlson, MB; Peter J. Middleton, MD; Maria T. Szymanski, BSc; Johannes Huber, MD; Martin Petric, PhD

Am J Dis Child. 1978;132(5):477-479.

Abstract
• During the period of May 1972 to March 1977, twenty-one fatal cases of rotavirus acute gastroenteritis were recorded in the city of Toronto. The mean age of these subjects was approximately 1 year. Boys outnumbered girls by 12 to 9. Death occurred within three days of onset of symptoms in all cases. Sixteen of the subjects were profoundly dehydrated and had sodium levels (serum or vitreous humor) in excess of 150 mEq/liter. In 11 subjects, sodium values were greater than 160 mEq/liter. Although a physician was contacted in 16 instances, these infants still perished. We suggest that both language difficulties and the rapid rate of fluid depletion contributed significantly to the fatal outcome. At autopsy the bowel was often dilated and filled with fluid. Postmortem autolysis precluded an accurate histological assessment of the small bowel mucosa.

(Am J Dis Child 132:477-479, 1978)

Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Virology (Drs Carlson, Middleton, Szymanski, and Petric) and Pathology (Dr Huber), The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Dec 22, 1977.

Reprint requests to Department of Virology, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada (Dr Middleton).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Prevention of Rotavirus Disease: Guidelines for Use of Rotavirus Vaccine
Committee on Infectious Diseases
Pediatrics 2007;119:171-182.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Rotavirus Deaths: Rare or Unrecognized?
Staat et al.
CLIN PEDIATR 2005;44:535-537.
 

Pathogenesis of Intestinal and Systemic Rotavirus Infection
Ramig
J. Virol. 2004;78:10213-10220.
FULL TEXT  

Rotavirus: a new vaccine for the UK?
RAMSAY
Arch. Dis. Child. 1999;81:101-102.
FULL TEXT  

Simple Method for Improving the Precision of Electrolyte Measurements in Vitreous Humor
McNeil et al.
Clin. Chem. 1999;45:135-136.
FULL TEXT  

Treatment of Acute Gastroenteritis: Too Much and Too Little Care
Merrick et al.
CLIN PEDIATR 1996;35:429-435.
ABSTRACT  

Rotavirus Surveillance--United States, 1989-1990
JAMA 1991;265:959-960.
 

Rotavirus Infection in a Geriatric Population
Marrie et al.
Arch Intern Med 1982;142:313-316.
ABSTRACT