Prolonged shedding of rotavirus in a geriatric inpatient.

This study concerns a nosocomial rotaviral infection of a geriatric patient with clinical symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. The virological diagnosis was based on the detection of rotaviral antigens using a Rota kit, viral genome RNA by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method, and viral particles by electron microscopy in the stool samples. Prolonged rotaviral shedding was suggested to be due to impaired natural killer cell activity, possibly together with deficiency of specific local immune response of the patient.