Epidemiological Survey of Group A Rotaviruses Infection among Children under 5 Years with Acute Diarrhea

Background : Rotaviruses are one of the most important causes of acute gastroenteritis and death in children worldwide. WHO suggested hospital based surveillance all over the world in order to evaluate the prevalence of rotavirus diarrhea. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis in hospitalized children in Shiraz.
Materials and Methods : In this study 138 stool samples from children aged <5 years old with severe diarrhea (>3 loose watery stools per 24 hours), hospitalized at Shaheed Dastgheib and Nemazee hospitals in Shiraz, were collected during 2006-2007. All the stool specimens were evaluated for Group A of rotaviruses with enzyme immunoassays (EIA). Then demographic and clinical data were analyzed by SPSS software.
Results : Out of total collected samples rotavirus infection was detected in 48(34.78%). The highest infection rate was among children less than two years old (70.83%). Diarrhea (97.92%), vomiting (77.08%) and fever (52.08%) were the most frequent reported clinical symptoms in children with rotavirus infection. The highest of isolation of virus was observed in autumn (45.83%) and the lowest in spring (8.33%) (p=0.012). Also, there was no significant difference between the frequency of the rotavirus diarrhea and the pattern of nutrition (p= 0.236).
Conclusion : Regarding to high frequency of rotavirus infection, concurrently surveillance of rotavirus gastroenteritis in other hospitals of Iran is recommended.