Rotavirus and enteric adenovirus serotypes 40 and 41 are important etiologic agents of acute gastroenteritis in children. Little is known about the epidemiyology of adenovirus and rotavirus infections in Turkey. This study was designed to determine the incidence of rotavirus and enteric adenovirus in stool specimens of children with acute gastroenteritis.

Three hundred and twenty children (135 female and 185 male) with acute gastroenteritis admitted to the Pediatrics Depatrment of Maltepe University, School of Medicine between March 2004 to March 2005, were included in this study. To detect these viruses in stool specimens, immunochromatographic tests (Rida Quick, r-biopharm) were used.

Rotavirus was detected in 46 ( 14% ) of the patients whereas adenovirus was detected in 44 (14%) out of 320 cases. In 24 (8%) of the cases both adenovirus and rotavirus were positive. Most of the cases were admitted to the hospital on May and December. The incidence of adenovirus was the same during the whole year except spring in which it was low and of rotavirus was high in winter compared to the other months.

Altough, rotavirus is known to be the frequent agent in viral gastroenteritis in children, in our study, the rates of adenovirus were similar with rotavirus. With these findings we conclude that, detection of both viruses may be convenient in the differential diagnosis in children with acute gastroenteritis.