title: [Rotavirus diarrhea. Impact in a pediatric hospital of Buenos Aires].
abstract: Anticipating the use of the rotavirus vaccine, we performed this study in order to estimate the rotavirus disease burden in a pediatric hospital. We studied 648 children < 3 years of age between September/97 and August/98, assisted at the Outpatient Diarrhea Unit, or hospitalized due to acute diarrhea in our Hospital. We found rotavirus associated to 36% of the diarrhea cases studied in the Outpatient Clinics, and in 45% of the hospitalized children. We estimate the assistance of 1674 rotavirus diarrheas per year in the Outpatient Clinics, but only 14 of them required hospitalization. The study describes a peak of rotavirus diarrheas between March and June, and another peak of rotavirus-negative diarrheas between January and March (probably due to bacterial diarrheas). Rotavirus disease presented a higher frequency between 6 to 23 months of age; only 10% of the 233 rotavirus cases occurred in children older than 24 months and 13% in infants less than 6 months of age. The situation described is significant because the recently licensed rotavirus vaccine is being used in 3 doses at 2, 4 and 6 months and could have prevented most of the rotavirus cases observed during this study.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología, Hospital de Niños Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez, Buenos Aires.
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sordo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rowensztein
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sabbag
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roussos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Petre
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garello
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Medei
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bok
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grinstein
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012621:Seasons; D014765:Viral Vaccines
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines