The authors present the case-report of a 4-month old infant hospitalized at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Plzeň Faculty Hospital on account of acute gastroenteritis with an astrovirus etiology and a serious metabolic disorder. The clinical picture of the disease with severely pathological laboratory findings did not correspond to the anamnestically reported milder course of diarrhoea. In the differential diagnosis the possibility of Reye’s syndrome was considered as the clinical and laboratory criteria of stage 1 of this syndrome were met.

        Key words: viral gastroenteritis, metabolic disorder, encephalopathy, Reye’s syndrome