Abstract
Objective:
to describe cases of acute diarrheal disease caused by norovirus in children under 5 years old in São Paulo city, Brazil.
Methods:
this was a cross-sectional study using data from Epidemiological Surveillance of Gastroenteritis due to Rotavirus; cases were defined as patients hospitalized in a sentinel unit because of acute diarrheal disease and laboratory identification of norovirus as the etiological agent between 2010 and 2016.
Results:
during the study period, the proportion of norovirus cases in children under 5 years old exceeded the proportion of Rotavirus, an agent considered predominant in childhood; norovirus was associated with 28.4% of total reported cases, occurring all year round, especially in warmer months.
Conclusion:
norovirus was the leading etiological agent identified in children under 5 years old with acute diarrheal disease in São Paulo city.
Keywords:
Norovirus; Diarrhea; Epidemiological Monitoring; Epidemiology, Descriptive