Burden of Rotavirus Diarrhoea among Children Less than Five Years of Age Attending a Tertiary Care Institute with Acute Gastroenteritis: A Cross-sectional Study
Published: April 1, 2023 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2023/61667.17901
Anjum Ara Mir, Bashir Ahmad Fomda, Nargis Bali, Mushtaq Bhat
1. Postgraduate Student, Department of Microbiology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
2. Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
3. Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
4. Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Correspondence
Dr. Bashir Ahmad Fomda,
Faculty Quarters, SKIMS, Srinagar-190011, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
E-mail: bashirfomda@gmail.com
Introduction: Diarrhoea due to rotavirus continues to cause significant morbidity in children less than five years of age especially in developing countries. Prior to the incorporation of rotavirus vaccine in the national immunisation program the prevalence of rotavirus in stool samples of children in India has been reported to vary from 4.6-33.7%. However, there is not much data regarding the burden of rotavirus diarrhoea after the widespread use of rotavirus vaccine.
Aim: To find out the extent to which rotavirus is responsible for causing infection in children under five years of age.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out in the Department of Microbiology, in collaboration with the Department of Paediatrics, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, among children who presented with acute gastroenteritis to the biggest tertiary care institute of the region. After seeking written consent from the parents/caretakers stool samples were collected and subjected to Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Demographic variables including vaccination status and seasonality were recorded for all the cases. Statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 and p-value of <0.05 was taken as significant.
Results: Of the 279 stool samples received during the study period, a rotavirus positivity of 17.2% was seen with 31 (63.8%) patients affected being males. A total of 37 (77.1%) children belonged to the age group of 0-12 months and 27 (56.3%) of those affected were from rural areas. Diarrhoea was the most common symptom in 28 (58.3%) patients. Most of the rotavirus positive children, that is, 26 (54.2%) were not vaccinated. Majority of the cases, 34 (70.8%), were seen in winter season.
Conclusion: Majority of the children who visited the hospital were not vaccinated and were rotavirus positive despite a robust vaccination program. This puts an emphasis on the need to improve the vaccination rates in order to fight this illness.
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