Rotavirus as an aetiological agent of acute childhood diarrhoea in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Of the 456 urban children aged 14 days and 4 years examined for rotavirus in this study, 376 had diarrhoea while 80 were without diarrhoea and serve as control. Among the 376 diarrhoeic children, 57 (15.2%) had rotavirus while none of the 80 control children had the virus. Rotavirus was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) among the in-patients (19.8%) than in the out-patients (10.3%) and among children of 7-12 months compared with other aged groups. The majority of the children that had the rotavirus lived in areas without pipe-borne water and similarly belonged to the low-socio-economic level. It is therefore possible to deduce from this work that rotavirus is still a major aetiology of acute childhood diarrhoea in Nigeria and its incidence can be affected by hygienic practices, the environment and socio-economic level.
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D000208:Acute Disease; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009549:Nigeria; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology