[Impact of Rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization or presenting to emergency room among children less than 5 years in France].

Background: In France, Rotavirus infections are responsible for approximately 300,000 cases of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children less than 5 years every year, 138,000 outpatient consultations and 18,000 hospitalizations. Surveillance for Rotavirus Infections in Hospitalized Kids (SHRIK) is a European prospective observational study conducted to assess the burden related to Rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) in these children.

Methods: Patients less than 5 years visiting emergency rooms for AGE (U-AGE), who were hospitalized (H-AGE) or who developed RVGE 48 hours after hospitalization (N-AGE) were included in the study over a year. A stool sample was collected for every child and analyzed by ELISA.

Results: Results are presented for patients enrolled in France. A total of 755 eligible patients with AGE were included (357 for U-AGE, 372 for H-AGE and 26 for N-AGE). Among them, the proportion of RVGE was 49.1% (n=114) for U-AGE and 64.4% (n=186) for H-AGE. Most cases of RVGE (89%) involved children less than 2 years. GERV were frequently more severe than GEA non related to Rotavirus (NRVGE), according to the Vesikari scale, (68.4% against 41.9%, P<0.0001). Oral rehydration was performed for nearly 50% of RVGE patients before coming to hospital, versus 36.2% for NRVGE (P<0.002). All RV-positive strains were genotyped: the most frequent strains were G1P[8] (U-AGE, 42%; H-AGE, 46%) and G9P[8] (U-AGE, 38%; H-AGE, 31%).

Conclusion: SHRIK study followed up all GEA visiting emergency room or requiring hospitalization for one year and showed that the burden of Rotavirus disease is high with a ratio over 70% of all hospital GEA during the winter peak.