Prevalence of rotavirus infection in children with acute watery diarrhoea in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death in under-5 children with Rotavirus being the commonest causative organism. This study evaluated the prevalence of rotavirus in diarrhoeal stools of children presenting with acute watery diarrhoea to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
Methodology: This was a cross sectional study and 115 children aged less than five years were randomly selected into the study. Stools were collected in universal containers and rectal swabs were also collected from participants who could not provide stool sample. Rotavirus assay was performed using Prospect Rotavirus micro plate Assay method.
Results: Of the 115 diarrheal stool samples examined, 51 (44.3%) were positive for rotavirus. The commonest age group affected were less than 12 months (37.%) and the least in 25-60 months (29.4%).There was no significant difference in the prevalence of rotavirus diarrhoea in the different age groups (p>0.05). Among the study population, 15 wear exclusively breastfed, of which two (13.3%) were positive for rotavirus, 31 were bottle (formula) fed of which 25 (80.6%) were positive for rotavirus. Sixty-nine of the children were fed with family diet and 24 (34.8%) had rotavirus diarrhoea. There were significant (p <0.05) high rate of rotavirus diarrhea among children fed with formula (80.6%) compared to children fed with family diet (34.8%) and lowest in exclusively breastfed infants (13.4%).
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the importance of rotavirus organism as a cause of acute diarrhoea among children in Calabar and the relationship of the disease with the mode of feeding.