Multicenter Prospective Study on the Burden of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in Turkey, 2005–2006: A Hospital‐Based Study

Abstract

Rotavirus is the main cause of gastroenteritis and dehydration requiring hospitalization among infants and children. Despite the high diarrhea-related mortality rate, there are limited studies describing the prevalence of rotavirus in Turkey. The disease burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Turkey was assessed by active, prospective surveillance conducted in accordance with a modified World Health Organization generic protocol from 1 June 2005 through 1 June 2006. A total of 411 children aged <5 years who were hospitalized for gastroenteritis in 4 centers were enrolled. Rotavirus was identified in 53% of samples from the 338 children tested; the range for individual centers was 32.4%-67.4%. Overall, 83.8% of rotavirus-positive children were aged <2 years. Rotavirus gastroenteritis occurred year-round but peaked in the winter. G1P[8] was the most widely prevalent strain (76% of strains), followed by G2P[4] (12.8%). G9P[8] was reported in samples from 3.9% of children. These data support the need for a rotavirus vaccine in Turkey.

<em>Cryptosporidium</em> spp. and rotavirus gastroenteritis and change of incidence after rotavirus vaccination among children in Raparin Pediatrics Hospital, Erbil, Iraq

“…In studies done by other groups, they found high incidence of rotavirus gastroenteritis between December to April. 19 Confirming our result, we found that peak incidence was in January and February (38.6%) followed by March and April (36.4%), and significantly lower incidence of infection was detected in May and June (13%) (p<0.05). Peak incidence during winter and spring seasons is possibly due to the moist and relatively cold period which might support viral stability in such climate.…”

“…17 On national level, our data (32%) were close to it, as well as to that obtained and recorded in Thi-Qar (39%), 21 but surprisingly they were much lower than that recorded in Najaf (66.7%). 22 Comparably, the results were also close to that reported in Jordan (33%) 23 and Turkey (32.4%), 19 the neighboring countries. The results also revealed that the incidence of rotavirus infection was significantly higher in urban (33.6%) areas compared to that observed among children from rural (24.7%) areas.…”

“…20 Among viral gastroenteritis, rotaviruses are the most common causative agent in newborns and young children both in developing and developed countries, in agreement with published data at national and international level. 17,19 The present study shows that rotavirus is one of the common causative agents of diarrheal illness in children in Erbil city besides other common parasitic and bacterial infections. The overall rate of rotavirus infection among studied children was 32%.…”

“…Peak incidence during winter and spring seasons is possibly due to the moist and relatively cold period which might support viral stability in such climate. 19 Since the samples were collected in the winter and spring seasons, the seasonal patterns of these infection were still obscure. Thus, further studies including summer season is recommended to provide a clear figure about seasonal distribution of cryptosporidiosis and rotavirus infection in Erbil.…”

Investigation of Seven Different RNA Viruses Associated with Gastroenteritis in Children Under Five Years Old

“…Bizim çalışmamızda elde edilen toplam pozitiflik oranı (%38.7), bu araştırıcıların 9 sonucuna (%42.9) yakın olmasına karşın, viral etkenlerin sıklık derecelerinde farklılık gözlenmiş ve ilk sırayı noroviruslar (6 GII+2 GI; 8/31, %25.8) alırken onu rotavirus grup A (2/31, %6.5) izlemiştir. Ülkemizde son yıllarda yapılan çalışmalar değerlendirildiğinde ise, gastroenteritli çocuklarda rotavirus pozitiflik oranlarının (çoğu antijen testleri ile alınan sonuçlar olmak üzere) %18-53 arasında olduğu görülmektedir [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . Bizim çalış-mamızda rotavirus saptanma oranının (%6.5) bu çalışmalardan daha düşük bulunması, kullanılan yöntemlerin farklılığından ve bölgesel farklılıklardan kaynaklanmış olabilir.…”