Analysis of enteric rotavirus infection among diarrheal children in Guangzhou from 2005 to 2007.

Objective To study the occurrence of rotavirus infection among children in Guangzhou area.Methods Stool specimens were collected from over 30,000 inpatients and outpatients, with an age of less than 5 years old, suffering from acute diarrhea admitted in Guangzhou Children's hospital during the period of Jan 2005 to Dec 2007.Immune colloidal gold technique was used to test the presence of rotavirus antigens in stool specimens.Results A total of 33,211 specimens were tested.The average positive rate of infection in 2005, 2006 and 2007 was 44.70%, 38.22% and 39.99%, respectively.Compared with 2006 and 2007, the peak of infection was one month delayed in 2005.The rate of positive rotavirus antigen detection was highest in infants aged 6～24 months.Sex difference in infection was not significant(P0.05).Conclusion Rotavirus is the single most important causative agent of severe acute diarrhea among young children in Guangzhou, China.Climatological factors, such as temperature, may affect the epidemiologic patterns of rotavirus infection in Guangzhou.