Outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis with high mortality, Nicaragua, 2005.

Objectives: We investigated a nationwide outbreak of severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in Nicaragua in children under 5 years old, leading to many consultations, hospitalizations, and deaths. We questioned whether a vaccine might have prevented these illnesses and deaths, sought to identify risk factors for death, and developed a clinical profile of children hospitalized with diarrhea.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study to determine whether children who died had access to routine immunizations, a proxy predicting access to a rotavirus vaccine.