Rotavirus is responsible for a significant
gastrointestinal disease primarily
in children less than 5 years
of
age worldwide causing massive
morbidity
and mortality. This study
aimed
to identify the proportion of
children
with acute gastroenteritis infected
with rotavirus through systematic
sampling over a 1-year period in
a
tertiary care hospital, Mansoura
University
Children's Hospital - Mansoura-Egypt
Patients and Methods
This study included all hospital-
ized children aged less than 5 years
who presented with acute watery
diarrhea. Collected stool samples
were tested for the presence of rotavirus using an ELISA kit.
Results
Out of 385 stool samples, rotavi-
rus antigen was detected in the stool
samples of 144 (37.4%), of which 74
(45.9%) samples were from infants
in the age group of 0–12 months. Fever
was found to be significantly
more
frequent among children with
rotavirus
positive samples [86.5%
vs.
55.7%, P=0.02]. The same was
found
with vomiting as it was more
frequent
among children with rotavirus
positive samples [80% vs.
67.7%,
P=0.05]. Severe dehydration
was
significantly more common in
patients
with rotavirus infection
[31.9%
vs. 18%, P=0.02], while mild
and
moderate dehydration did not show the same level of significance
[17% vs. 22.5, P=0.42] and [51% vs.
59.4%, P=0.74] respectively. Rotavirus
positive cases aged less than
one
year were found to present with
a
severe degree of dehydration 34
(45.9%)
while moderate degree of
dehydration
was most frequently presented
among other age groups indicating
that the younger the age the
more
the severity of symptoms of
rotavirus
infection.