Efecto de las Variaciones Climáticas en Gastroenteritis Causadas por Rotavirus y Adenovirus en Niños Menores de Cuatro Años en Santafé de Bogotá entre Junio de 1996 y Junio de 1998

Research objective

Examine whether temperature, humidity and precipitation influenced the prevalence and electrophoretic patterns of rotavirus and adenovirus in children under four years of age with acute diarrhea in Bogotá.

Population or sample

494 diarrheal stool samples from children under four years of age, collected across five pediatric centers in Bogotá between June 1996 and June 1998.

Methods

All samples screened for rotavirus by ELISA (Kallestad); 209 also tested for adenovirus (Dako). 104 rotavirus-positive samples underwent electropherotyping by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Climatic variables from IDEAM monthly reports were analyzed by regression.

Key findings

Rotavirus prevalence 32%, adenovirus prevalence 18.5%. Six distinct rotavirus electropherotypes identified. No statistical correlation between the studied climatic variables and viral prevalence or electropherotype distribution — consistent with endemic circulation of enteric viruses in equatorial tropical zones with limited seasonal contrast.

Scientific relevance

Provided an early local characterization of enteric viral circulation in a tropical highland setting, showing no statistical association with conventional seasonal climate variables — part of the documented research trajectory later expanded through molecular characterization and an NCBI GenBank sequence record.

Marcela Riaño Caro's documented role

Listed co-author (Marcela Riaño), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. The related undergraduate work on rotavirus electrophoretic patterns and climate received an Academic Honor Mention.