Detection of rotavirus infection in children with gastroenteritis attending three selected hospitals in Kano metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

The study aimed at detecting the incidence of rotavirus infection among children with gastroenteritis in Kano Metropolis. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study and a total of 200 stool samples were randomly collected and assayed for the presence of rotavirus antigens using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay and confirmed using Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction. The study revealed that 21/200 (10.5%) stool samples were positive for rotavirus antigen and more males 13/21(6.5%) were positive than females 8/21 (4%) (p>0.05). The highest and lowest incidence rates in rotavirus infection of 42.8% (9/21) and 4.8% (1/21) were found among children aged 7-12 month and 31-36; 43-48 month (p>0.05) respectively. Most of the positive samples (95%) were from those who presented with diarrhea, vomiting and fever (p<0.05). The study further revealed that 20/21(95%) of the positive children were from married couples and the incidence rate was found to be independent of the educational level of the parent (p>0.05). Among the risk factors considered, source of drinking water (tap water) and playing with toys appeared to be the most predisposing factors as 16/21 (76%) and 19/21 (90.5%) of the children were found to be infected (p>0.05). Finally, the lowest rate of rotavirus infections was found in only 1/21 (0.5%) among the exclusively breastfed children compared to 14/21 (7%) of those on mixed feeding (p>0.05). The study recommends detection of rotavirus infection to be part of routine laboratory tests in our hospitals and advocates the concept of exclusive breastfeeding to curtail rate of infection among infants.

Asymptomatic Rotavirus infections among children in Maiduguri, Borno state, Northeast, Nigeria

“…[ 25 ] There is a higher detection of Rotavirus among males (28.1%) than in females (11.2%) in this study. This is similar to report from Nigeria[ 26 ] in 2016 with a higher prevalence among males than females. The high prevalence in a male could be due to male children preferring playing with their mates outside than females who are mostly indoor.…”

“…The high prevalence in a male could be due to male children preferring playing with their mates outside than females who are mostly indoor. [ 26 ] The report observed in this study revealed the highest prevalence of 30.3% in ages 6–10 years. This is similar to results in Iraq,[ 7 ] where the prevalence of Rotavirus was highest in children under the age of 18 years among asymptomatic Rotavirus infection.…”