Child health · UKMLA & AKT
Adenovirus gastroenteritis
A free high-yield preview for the UKMLA Applied Knowledge Test, covering how to recognise this condition. The full SA Note notes add investigations, management and complications, with practice questions on this topic.
Key high-yield points
- Watery diarrhoea - prolonged, lasting 5-12 days (up to 2 weeks); hallmark feature distinguishing adenovirus from other viral causes
- Respiratory symptoms (coryza, cough, sore throat) concurrent with or preceding GI illness - classic hallmark of adenovirus
- Low-grade fever - high fever should prompt consideration of bacterial cause
- Vomiting - less prominent than norovirus or rotavirus
- Mesenteric adenitis - abdominal pain persisting after acute illness resolves; child appears well and is eating normally
Child with abdominal pain + low-grade fever + diffuse tenderness who appears well and has a normal appetite, following a recent viral illness = mesenteric adenitis (adenovirus is a recognised cause). Key differentiator from appendicitis: pain localises to RIF in appendicitis, appetite is lost, and WCC is elevated.
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