Clinical Epidemiology Of Rotavirus Diarrhea In Infants

Objective: Describe the clinical epidemiological characters of rotavirus diarrhea among children under 5 years old in Suzhou to provide basic information for actualizing the vaccine of rotavirus and effectively controlling the incidence of rotavirus diarrhea in the future. Methods: We investigated the diarrhea infants under 5 years old in Suzhou Child' s Hospital between Sep 2001 to Aug 2002, and tested the stool specimens collected from infants with diarrhea for rotavirus and G P typing by ELISA and PCR. All children under 5 years old with diarrhea admitted to Suzhou child' s hospital were enrolled in the study. For each patient, demographic data and information of clinical presentation was recorded on a standardized questionnaire completed by a trained health worker specifically assigned to the project. The data were analyzed by SPSS 10.0. Results: During the one year study period, a total of 3952 diarrhea-associated infants were reported and 782 fecal specimens were selected in which 274 (35.35%) were positive for rotavirus. The rates of rotavirus diarrhea in children peaked during Nov, 2001 through May, 2002. The youngest infant with rotavirus diarrhea was only 12 days and the number of 3-23 months old accounts for 89.61 percent of all children with rotavirus diarrhea. Male to female is 1.98 to 1. The most prevalent rotavirus G serotypea were G3(40.15%) and G 1(28.47%), P genetypea was P[4](39.68%). Rotavirus diarrhea led to more dehydration. The rate of breast-feeding in infants with rotavirus diarrhea is lower than that in the other feeding modes (P<0. 01) . Bloodydiarrhea andbellyache prolonged the course of rotavirus diarrhea. Conclusion: The epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea in infants in Suzhou was similar to that of other regions in the world, but rotavirus serotypea G3 and genetypea P[4] were prevalent strains in Suzhou city, which was uncommon and different from the predominant G1 and P[8] in other places throughout china. The breast-feeding will reduce rotavirus diarrhea. The course of rotavirus diarrhea with symptom of bloodydiarrhea or bellyache was longer than that of no symptom of bloodydiarrhea or bellyache .