title: Child rotavirus infection in association with acute gastroenteritis in two Chinese sentinel hospitals.
abstract: Rotavirus gastroenteritis is an important pediatric disease in China. In a survey of rotavirus infection at two sentinel hospitals in China (Beijing Friendship Hospital and Changchun Children's Hospital), 296 cases were detected. A total of 283 (95.6%) cases of rotavirus infection occurred in children under 5 years of age. Serotype G1 (62%) was most prevalent followed by G2 (28.5%), G3 (5%) and G4 (2%). Mixed infections (n = 8, 3%) were rate, and 16 isolates (5.5%) remained non-typeable. A consistent epidemic occurred during the winter. Rotavirus was responsible for about 61.8% of diarrhea-related hospitalizations in children under 5 years of age, with a mean hospital stay of 5.6 days (1.0-21 days). The estimated rate of rotavirus-attributed hospitalizations was 16/1000 children under 5 years of age per year. Rotavirus-related death is rare in Changchun and Beijing. The present findings suggest that a rotavirus vaccine for the prevention of severe disease and a reduction of treatment costs would be of significant benefit to China.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Beijing, China. fangzhyn@ihw.com.cn
authors.forename: Z Y
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Y F
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: C X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003428:Cross Infection; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*