RESUMO
The death of a 1.5-year-old child due to bronchoaspiration of the gastric content in the development of a letal infection caused by Norwalk-like virus was reported. The viral gastrointestinal diseases are common but they rarely produce a severe disease. Recent investigations show that Norwall-like virus (Noro-Virus) is the most frequent gastrointestinal pathogen in Central Europe. The etiological diagnosis of the gastrointestinal disease, starting from autopsy material, was only possible by polymerase chain reaction. The introduction of this technique allowed to reduce the number of cases of gastrointestinal diseases without etiological diagnosis and, at the same time, to increase the demonstration of the occurrence of infection caused by Norwalk-like virus.