Prevalence of Rotavirus and Adenovirus in the Childhood Gastroenteritis in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Gastroenteritis in the childhood is one of the most common cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Acute gastroenteritis is caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and rarely fungi. The cases of viral gastroenteritis are gradually increasing resulting in a global problem among children. This warrants the need of local, regional and national epidemiological data on the most common agents causing childhood gastroenteritis for clinicians for treatment protocol, Public health officials to implement control measures and for Researchers to develop suitable vaccines. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Rotavirus and adenovirus in the childhood gastroenteritis and its epidemiological importance in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Children below 14 years of age attending a rural tertiary care hospital with diarrhea, vomiting and fever of less than 3 days were included in our study. The sample size was 38. General physical examination, clinical findings and other epidemiological data were also recorded. A commercial Rotavirus and Adenovirus antigen detection kit was used to detect the presence of Rotavirus and Adenovirus antigen from the stool sample. Out of 38 children screened, 11 children (28.94%) were positive for Rotavirus, 1 ( 2.63% ) child was positive for Adenovirus and 26 (68.42%) children were negative for both Adenovirus and Rotavirus. The positivity rate of rotavirus in children aged less than 5 years was of 54.4 %. Diarrhoea, fever and vomiting were the commonest symptoms seen in Rotavirus positive children. There is no single gold standard test to discriminate the viral gastroenteritis from other agents of gastroenteritis. A simple, rapid immunochromatography test is useful cost effective aid in the developing countries to detect and screen Adenovirus and Rotavirus.