[Epidemiological trend in rotavirus infections in children hospitalized in the Department of Paediatrics at Warsaw Bielany Hospital; 2005-2007].

Aim: defining the epidemiological trend in community acquired and nosocomial rotavirus infections in children hospitalized in the Department of Paediatrics of the Warsaw Bielany Hospital; 2005-2007. Assessment of the correlation with respect to age, sex and month of the year.

Materials: we reviewed 1126 case histories of patients age from 1 month to 16 years (median 19 months) admitted to the Hospital because of vomiting and diarrhea. In the period in question these children accounted for 24% of all admissions (1126/4682). We also reviewed 88 histories of children who in the same period acquired nosocomial rotavirus infections. In all the cases stool was examined for rotavirus antigen and bacteria.

Results: we were able to determine the etiology of acute gastroenteritis in only 45% (504/1126) of the admitted cases. Majority of these, 82% (414/504), were rotavirus infections. We noted a slight decrease in the number of community acquired rotavirus infections in the years 2005-2007. Unfortunately we found an increase in the number of nosocomial rotavirus infections from 10 to 23% in the period under review. There was a statistically significant rise in the incidence of rotavirus infections (p<0.001) among children below 5 years of age, 53.5% were children 6- 24-months-old. The incidence was not related to sex. We also observed that the peak of incidence was shifting from winter to summer months.

Conclusion: we suggest that a broader diagnostic work-up should be carried out on children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis in order to detect other pathogens.