P. Mohar Bregar
Klinika za infekcijske bolezni in vročinska stanja, UKC Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenija

Z. Gruber
Klinika za pediatrijo, UKC Maribor, Maribor, Slovenija

M. Ivankovič Kacjan
Zdravstveni dom dr. Adolfa Drolca Maribor, Maribor, Slovenija

M. Čižman
Klinika za infekcijske bolezni in vročinska stanja, UKC Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenija

Abstract

Rotavirus (RV) infection is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children. Dehydration as a consequence of vomiting and diarrhoea is the leading complication of the disease and the most common cause of hospital admission. In recent years a number of researchers have reported extraintestinal manifesta¬tions in association with RV infections, especially involvement of the central nervous system (CNS). In this paper, described complications of RV infections in the CNS, pancreas, lungs, heart and kidneys are cited. We report a case of acute myositis and present some pathological laboratory findings in diarrhoea caused by RV infections and the importance of RV in the development of coeliac disease and type 1 diabetes. Some fatal cases of RV infections in children, in which dehydration and electrolyte disturbances were excluded as the cause of complications, are described. The data suggest that viraemia is common in children with RV gastroenteritis, but the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of extraintestinal manifestations of RV is still unknown.

Key words: Rotavirus, gastroenteritis, extraintestinal complications, central nervous system.