Rotavirus infection among Sudanese children younger than 5 years of age: a cross sectional hospital-based study

Abstract

IntroductionIn Sudan, rotavirus has been one of the important causative agents of diarrhea among children. Rotavirus A is well known as the leading cause of diarrhea in young children worldwide. It was estimated to account for 41% of hospitalized cases of acute gastroenteritis among children in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the common clinical presentations of rotavirus A infection among Sudanese children with gastroenteritis seeking management in hospitals.Methods755 Sudanese children less than 5 years of age suffering from acute gastroenteritis in hospital settings were included. The positive stool specimens for rotavirus A was used for extract Ribonucleic acid (RNA) and the RNA product was loaded on formaldehyde agarose gel and visualized under UV illumination.ResultsOf the 755 children, 430(57%) were males while 325(43%) were female. The age of children ranged from 1 to 60 months. There were 631 (84%) children who were less than 24 months of age. Out of the 755 stool samples, 121(16%) were positive for rotavirus. Of the 121 infected children with rotavirus, 79(65.3%) were male and 42(34.7%) were female and the highest infection rate was seen among 91(75.2%) of children up to 12 months of age. Children of illiterate parents were more infected with rotavirus than children of educated parents. Severe dehydration present among 70% of infected children with rotavirus.ConclusionSince this study is hospital-based, the 16% prevalence rate may not reflect the true prevalence among Sudanese children, thus a community-based surveillance is needed.

Epidemiology of Rotavirus Infection in Children Less than Five Years in Omdurman Paediatric Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan

“…It is similar to data obtained from Iran that 57.8% of rotavirus cases were males [10]. In a study conducted in different hospitals in Sudan, Magzoub et al found that 65.3% of studied children were males [4]. In the present study most of cases (41%) occurred among age group 1-12 months, it is similar to data obtained in Oman that most of rotavirus positive cases were at 7-12 months of age [8].…”

“…Magzoub et al (2013) mentioned that about 82% of rotavirus deaths occurred among children in the poorest countries [4]. The disease causes many symptoms mainly diarrhea, nausea, malaise, headache, abdominal cramping, fever and vomiting, however the infection can be symptomless sometimes [5].…”

Prevalence and Clinical Manifestations of Rotavirus and Adenovirus Infections in Children Under Five Years Old in Katsina State, Northwestern Nigeria.

“…This is similar to other studies in Nigeria where rotavirus was detected in slightly higher rates in male than in females (Aminu et al, 2008, Pennap andUmoh 2010;Junaid et al, 2011). Similar studies in other countries such as in South Western Iran (Kajbaf et al, 2013), and in Sudan (Magzoub et al, 2013) have reported higher detection rates of rotavirus infection in males than in females. However, studies from Cameroon (Ndze et al, 2012) reported higher detection rates in females (45.3%) than in males (40.8%).…”

Haze is an important medium for the spread of rotavirus

“…The positive rate was higher than that of developed countries, such as England (14.3%) (Sethi et al, 2001); lower than that of some developing countries, such as Thailand (30%) (Chieochansin et al, 2016) and India (23%) (Namjoshi et al, 2014); and similar to the positive rate of rotavirus detection in Sudan (16%) (Magzoub et al, 2013). The danger to males was higher, and the ratio of infected males to females was 1.6:1.…”