High burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in young children in rural western Kenya, 2010-2011.

Pediatr Infect Dis J

From the *Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Research and Public Health Collaboration, Kisumu and Nairobi; ‡Division of Disease Surveillance and Response, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, Nairobi, Kenya; §WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO/AFRO), Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; and †CDC-Kenya, Kisumu and Nairobi, Kenya.

Published: January 2014

Background: Diarrhea is a leading cause of hospitalization and death in children <5 years of age.

Objectives: To facilitate evaluation of the impact of rotavirus vaccine introduction in western Kenya, we estimated baseline rates of rotavirus-associated hospitalization and mortality among children <5 years of age.

Methods: From January 2010 to December 2011, we collected demographic, clinical and laboratory data for children <5 years of age seeking care at the district hospital and 2 outpatient facilities within a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS). Children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE), defined as ≥3 loose stools and/or ≥1 episode of unexplained vomiting followed by loose stool within a 24-hour period, were asked to provide a stool sample for rotavirus ELISA testing. Rates of rotavirus-associated hospitalization and mortality were estimated using time of residence in the HDSS to calculate person-years of observation. To estimate the rotavirus-associated mortality rate, we applied the percentage positive for rotavirus among AGE hospitalizations to verbal autopsy estimates of diarrhea deaths in the HDSS.

Results: There were 4991 hospitalizations of children <5 years of age; 1134 (23%) were for AGE and stool specimens were obtained from 790 (70%). Rotavirus was detected in 211 (27%) specimens. Among 4951 <5 outpatient sick visits, 608 (12%) were for AGE; 320 (51%) provided specimens and 62 (20%) were positive for rotavirus. Rotavirus AGE accounted for 501 <5 hospitalizations per 100,000 person-years of observation. Rotavirus-associated <5 mortality was 136 deaths per 100,000 person-years of observation.

Conclusions: Continued surveillance of rotavirus AGE will provide timely data on the population-level impact of rotavirus vaccine following its likely introduction in 2014.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/INF.0000000000000049DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

high burden
4
burden rotavirus
4
rotavirus gastroenteritis
4
gastroenteritis young
4
young children
4
children rural
4
rural western
4
western kenya
4
kenya 2010-2011
4
2010-2011 background
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!