Background. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe acute diarrhea in children. Infants who are exclusively breastfed develop fewer infections and have less severe illnesses. This study aimed to determine association between severe dehydration in rotavirus diarrhea and exclusive breastfeeding. Methods. This is a cross-sectional study in infants ≤ 6 months old with acute diarrhea in Dr. Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia. Results. From 134 infants ≤ 6 months old with acute diarrhea enrolled from April 2009 to December 2012, there were 88 (65.6%) boys and 46 (34.4%) girls in this study. Rotavirus was detected in 60 (44.8 %), 32 (53.3%) of whom were exclusively breastfed. From rotavirus positive subjects, severe dehydration occurred in 4 (12.6%) exclusively breastfed infants and 6 (21.5%) not exclusively breastfed infants. No significant association was found between severe dehydration and exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.491) in rotavirus diarrhea. Conclusions. In rotavirus diarrhea, there was no significant association between exclusive breastfeeding and severe dehydration.

AIM: Diarrhea disease is a major cause of poor nutritional status in children. Malnutrition can make a person more susceptible to infection that also contributes to malnutrition, causing a vicious cycle. Surveillance of children hospitalized for diarrhea in 3 Indonesian hospitals found 60% were rotavirus positive and 41% were positive in outpatient clinics. The aim of this study was to measure the correlation of nutritional status with severity of rotavirus diarrhea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study uses cross sectional design and included all children under 5 years old, both inpatients and outpatients, who presented with acute diarrhea at Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital from January 2009 through December 2012. The Vesikari Clinical Severity Scoring System was considered the measurement for severe rotavirus diarrhea. Assessment of nutritional status used anthropometric weight for height from World Health Organization (WHO) child growth standards. Categorical data were analyzed by Pearson Chi square test. RESULTS: Among 427 children aged 1-59 months, with rotavirus seropositive stool specimens, there were 258 (60%) boys and 169 (40%) girls. Nutritional status included "well nourished" (74%), "moderately malnourished" (23%) and "severely malnourished" (3%), while the distribution of severity for rotavirus diarrhea was "mild" (10%), "moderate" (21%) and "severe" (69%). This study showed that nutritional status had no significant correlation with severity of rotavirus diarrhea, p = 0.524. CONCLUSIONS: Nutritional status had no significant correlation with severity of rotavirus diarrhea.