Sibel Sevük Özümüt, Berna Doğan, Sema Gündoğdu, Esen Besli
The Anatolian Journal of Family Medicine - 2025;8(2):43-47
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate changes in the incidence and seasonal distribution pattern of enteric viruses that are common in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study included patients aged 0-9 years who were diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in the pediatric emergency department between September 2017 and August 2022. Results: During the study, 4,244 patients who underwent rotavirus (RV)/enteric adenoviruses (eAV) antigen tests with a diagnosis of AGE were included. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, during the COVID-19 pandemic, RV positivity decreased (479 [16.6%] vs. 167 [12.3%], p<0.001), whereas eAV positivity tended to increase (120 [4.1%] vs. 78 [5.8%], p=0.020). Conclusion: This surveillance study demonstrates the long-term effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on RV and eAV infections in children. In the early phase of the pandemic, both viruses had almost disappeared, but in the late phase, they returned to the pre-pandemic level.
