The Ewha Medical Journal
Ewha Womans University School of Medicine
Original Article

The Clinial Usefulness C-reactive Protein Levels in Rotavirus and Salmonella Gastroenteritis in Childhood

Jeong Wan Seo

Copyright ⓒ 1997. Ewha Womans University School of Medicine. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jul 24, 2015

Abstract

Objectives

This study was performed to evaluate the usefulness of quantitative measurement of C-reactive protein(C-RP) and ESR in the differentiation between Rotaviral and Salmonella gastroenteritis in children.

Methods

On admission quantitative C-RP measurement by nephelometry, stool culture for slmonella and shigella, stool latex agglutination test for rotavirus(slidex rota-kit 2), stool occult blood, stool WBC and CBC with ESR were performed.

Results

Of sixty seven children, 40(59.7%) children had Rotaviral gastroenteritis, and 27(40.3%) had Salmonella gastroenteritis. The C-RP levels and ESR of the patients with Salmonella gastroenteritis differed significantly from the Rotaviral gastroenteritis. At the level of 0.8 mg/dL, C-RP gave the best balance of sensitivity(84.6%) and specificity(87.5%).

Conclusion

The quantitative measurement of C-RP levels may be a useful tool for predicting Salmonella gastroenteritis in children.

Keywords: C-Reactive protein; Rotavirus; Salmonella gastroenteritis; Children