Prevalence of rotavirus in acute pediatric patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Mangalore

Acute diarrhoea is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in young children, among which Rotavirus has a worldwide distribution, and is found in both developed and developing countries. The greatest burden of diseases is in Africa, India and South Asia.This study was therefore done to determine the prevalence and factors associated with Rotavirus infection among paediatric age group(0-14 years) during a one year period at KMC, Mangalore. One hundred and sixty five paediatric patients with acute diarrhoea were recruited. Samples were investigated for bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic enteropathogens using microscopic examination, bacterial culture techniques and IVD Rotavirus Stool Antigen Detection ELISA kit. Out of 165 stool samples tested for various causative agents of gastroenteritis, a total of 87 (52.8%) samples yielded organisms and in the other samples 78 (47.3%) the pathogens were unidentified. Rotavirus was the most common pathogen among the various diarrheagenic agents in pediatric age group to be isolated 35 (21.2%) followed by bacterial pathogens 32 (19.4%), Candida albicans 8 (4.8%) among the various Candida species 13 (7.9%) and Cryptosporidiumspp 8 (4.8%) being commonest among various parasitic pathogens 12 (7.3%). Rotavirus is prevalent in our area and is one of the commonest causes for acute gastroenteritis with severe dehydration, but the good news is that it is a vaccine preventable disease and since there was no mortality reported, the children could mostly be managed at home with the oral rehydration therapy. These data will be essential for planning and including the available vaccination strategies in the immunization schedule and for better sanitation program in this part of the country.