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Concentrations of rotavirus were studied in serially sampled faecal specimens from 55 patients with acute gastroenteritis, utilizing the immune adherence hemagglutination (IAHA) test. Rotavirus antigen was detected in 45 (82%) out of 55 cases. In the faeces which were positive for rotavirus antigen, the concentrations reached their maximum titer shortly after the onset of the illness and diminished gradually until the 9th day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We had an outbreak of acute infantile gastroenteritis accompanied by milky-white stool (called Hakuri in Japanese) during the winters of 1976 and 1977. Stool specimens collected from 72 cases of Hakuri were studied by negative-staining electron microscopy. Rotavirus was detected with a very high frequency (89%). Rotavirus obtained from one of the patients was isolated and passaged in cultures of primary human embryonic kidney cells. Viral antigens could be detected in the cytoplasm of the cells by indirect immuno-fluorescence. The fluorescence-positive cells increased in number with repeated passage. Serum anti-viral activities in 11 patients were titrated by indirect immuno-fluorescence, using the cells infected with the passaged rotavirus. All 11 patients developed IgM responses in the convalescent phase. However, in 4 of the 11 patients, no IgG responses were detected even 2--3 weeks after the onset of illness. The reinfection which has occasionally be seen in our country may be related to these poor IgG responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]