Editing Rotavirus (section)

== Diagnosis and detection ==
Diagnosis of infection with a rotavirus normally follows diagnosis of [[gastroenteritis]] as the cause of severe diarrhoea. Most children admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis are tested for rotavirus.<ref name="pmid17901797" /><ref name="pmid16650331">{{cite journal |author=The Pediatric ROTavirus European CommitTee (PROTECT) |title=The paediatric burden of rotavirus disease in Europe |journal=Epidemiology and Infection |volume=134 |issue=5 |pages=908–916 |year=2006 |pmid=16650331 |pmc=2870494 |doi=10.1017/S0950268806006091}}</ref>

Specific [[medical diagnosis|diagnosis]] of infection with rotavirus is made by finding the virus in the child's [[Human feces|stool]] by [[enzyme immunoassay]]. There are several licensed test kits on the market which are sensitive, specific and detect all serotypes of rotavirus.<ref name="isbn0-12-375147-0">{{cite book |vauthors=Angel J, Franco MA, Greenberg HB |veditors=Mahy WJ, Van Regenmortel MH  |title=Desk Encyclopedia of Human and Medical Virology|publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=2009|page=278|isbn=978-0-12-375147-8}}</ref> Other methods, such as [[electron microscopy]] and [[Polymerase chain reaction|PCR]] (polymerase chain reaction), are used in research laboratories.<ref name="isbn0-471-49663-4">{{cite book |vauthors=Goode J, Chadwick D |title=Gastroenteritis viruses |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2001 |page=14 |isbn=978-0-471-49663-2}}</ref> Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction ([[RT-PCR]]) can detect and identify all species and serotypes of human rotaviruses.<ref name="pmid15027000">{{cite journal |vauthors=Fischer TK, Gentsch JR |title=Rotavirus typing methods and algorithms |journal=Reviews in Medical Virology |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=71–82 |year=2004 |pmid=15027000 |doi=10.1002/rmv.411|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1229353 |pmc=7169166 }}</ref>