Prevalence and factors associated with rotavirus infection among children admitted with acute diarrhea in Uganda

Abstract

BackgroundRotavirus remains the commonest cause of severe dehydrating diarrhea among children worldwide. Children in developing countries die more because of several factors including poorer access to hydration therapy and greater prevalence of malnutrition. Hitherto, the magnitude of rotavirus disease in Uganda has remained unknown. This study was therefore done to determine the prevalence and factors associated with rotavirus infection among children aged 3-59 months admitted with acute diarrhea to paediatric emergency ward of Mulago Hospital, UgandaMethodsThree hundred and ninety children, aged between 3-59 months with acute diarrhoea were recruited. The clinical history, socio-demographic characteristics, physical examination findings and laboratory investigations were recorded. Stool samples were tested for rotavirus antigens using the DAKO IDEIA rotavirus EIA detection kit.ResultsThe prevalence of rotavirus infection was 45.4%. On multivariate analysis rotavirus was significantly associated with a higher education (above secondary) level of the mother [OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-2.7]; dehydration [OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-3.0] and breastfeeding [OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.4-4.0]. Although age was significantly associated with rotavirus on bivariate analysis; this association disappeared on multivariate analysis. No significant association was found between rotavirus infection and nutritional status, HIV status and attendance of day care or school.ConclusionsRotavirus infection is highly prevalent among children with acute diarrhoea admitted to Mulago Hospital in Uganda.

Haze is an important medium for the spread of rotavirus

“…The main transmission route of infectious diarrhea is fecal-oral transmission. Consequently, many studies have conducted analytical investigations of dangerous factors to stop this route of transmission (Dennehy, 2000;Nakawesi et al, 2010;Temu et al, 2012;Wilking et al, 2012); relevant factors include dietary habits, the eating environment, food varieties, eating traditions, food storage conditions, and health and economic conditions. However, our long-term clinical observations have demonstrated that some infectious diarrhea cases are not associated with a suspicious food history or unclean dietary habits.…”

Diarrhoeal Diseases in Developing Countries: A Situational Analysis

“…25 Uganda and Turkey studies showed that prevalence of rotavirus infection was 45.4% and 44.4%. 26,27 Another hospital based study from India found that about 3.6% of the cases were positive for E. histolytica. No seasonality was observed although in the neighboring tropical country Bangladesh, a typical seasonality of E. histolytica infection was noticed.…”

Maternal Education and Diarrhea among Children aged 0-24 Months in Nigeria

“…rotavirus annually (with 232,000 deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa) 4 . Statistics have shown that about 20% of child death in sub-Saharan Africa occurs in Nigeria [5][6][7] .…”