Incidence and risk factors of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in northern Ghana.
We measured the type-specific incidence of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in an area of northern Ghana. Over 1 year, diarrhoea 1717 episodes were identified, of which 677 (39%) were positive for rotavirus. Risk factors for rotavirus infection included old age, wasting, high Vesikari score and the episode occurring in the dry season. Rotavirus-positive episodes tended to be more acute, causing vomiting and greater dehydration, and were more likely to require hospitalization. The incidence was 0.089 episodes per person-year for all diarrhoea, and 0.035 for rotavirus diarrhoea. The observed incidence decreased markedly with distance from the nearest health centre, suggesting a large unobserved burden. G2P[6], G3P[4] and G9P[8] made up more than half the genotypes detected, but the remainder were diverse. There is a large burden of rotavirus diarrhoea, but the effectiveness of future vaccines could be diluted by the high polymorphism of the virus, and the difficulty of reaching remote populations.
Binka
Fred N
FN
Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana. fbinka@africaonline.com.gh
Anto
Francis K
FK
Oduro
Abraham R
AR
Awini
Elizabeth A
EA
Nazzar
Alex K
AK
Armah
George E
GE
Asmah
Richard H
RH
Hall
Andrew J
AJ
Cutts
Felicity
F
Alexander
Neal
N
Brown
David
D
Green
Jon
J
Gray
Jim
J
Iturriza-Gómara
Miren
M
D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000235:genetics; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics