Frequency of Rotavirus Infection among Children in Omdurman Pediatric Hospital with Diarrhea

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of rotavirus infection among children with diarrhea in Omdurman Pediatric Hospital during the period from January to April 2011. Stool specimens from 92 children less than 5 years of age suffering from diarrhea were tested for the presence of rotavirus by antigen detection using the solid-phase sandwich Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay. The results obtained were processed and statistically analyzed using Chi- square test. Rotavirus antigen was detected in 23 (25%) of the patients. Most of the positive cases (91.3%) were in children less than 3 years of age and the infection rate decreased with the increasing age. Children infected with rotavirus were more likely to have vomiting (82.6%) and fairly low frequency of fever (60.9%). Out of the 23 rotavirus positive cases, 13 (30.2%) were breast-fed, 6 (25%) were both breast and bottle-fed and 4 (16.6%) were neither breast nor bottle-fed. When the effect of antibiotics therapy was examined, the antibiotic treated children revealed the highest percentage of rotavirus antigen (26.9%) compared to the non-treated children (14.3%). These findings testified that the diarrhea among infants and children was non-bacterial and mainly due to rotavirus infection. In conclusion, routine and proper diagnosis of rotavirus infection in children with acute diarrhea helps to determine appropriate treatment, prevents the unnecessary use of antibiotics and minimizes the spread of the disease among susceptible children.