Rotavirus and adenovirus in the canton of Ambato, a retrospective post-pandemic analysis

Abstract

Introduction: intestinal infections are one of the causes that most frequently bring patients under 6 years of age to primary health care systems. In Ecuador, given the cultural and hygienic conditions, they are linked to malnutrition, especially in rural areas, causing poor performance and absenteeism at school for children and wear and tear on their caregivers. Objective: to determine the presence of Rotavirus and Adenovirus in patients attending a laboratory in the city of Ambato from 2018 to 2023. Method: the research was descriptive and longitudinal with a total of 3330 patients between 1 day old and 80 years old. The detection method used was qualitative lateral flow immunoassay of Certest, Healgen and Operon brands. Added to this information obtained by literature search in sources such as Researchgate, Google Scholar, SciELO, PubMed, Elservier, BVS, Dialnet, Science Direct from 2018 to 2024. Results: the prevalence of Rotavirus was (69,28 %) relative to that of Adenovirus (30,72 %) ( p<0,0001). The rate of Rotavirus antigens in the year 2023 was higher for children between 1 day old and 5 years (76 %) than that detected in children for Adenovirus (24 %) (p<0,0001). Conclusions: the presence of viral agents is considered moderate considering that the study population was urban, an increase in the number of cases from 2018 to 2023 is evident, which makes it necessary to review public health policies in order to reduce the number of times this pathology is repeated