PREVALENCE OF ROTAVIRUS DIARRHEA AND ITS CLINICAL PRESENTATION AMONG CHILDREN

Rotavirus infection is the most frequent cause of acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years of age worldwide and accounts for nearly 5 per cent of all pediatric deaths annually. Rotavirus prevalence in the children admitted with acute diarrhea in our hospital was 36.5%. This study was a cross sectional study carried out between October 2014 to September 2016 on a total of 189 children admitted with acute diarrhea in the pediatric ward of Krishna Hospital, Karad and stools samples of all the children were analyzed for rotavirus antigen by ELISA. Most of the children with acute diarrhea were in the age group 7-12 months and least in the age group ≥ 25 months. There was a clear seasonal preference as most of the cases with rotavirus antigen were admitted in the winter season. 34.7% children with rotavirus diarrhea presented with the triad of diarrhea, vomiting and fever.