title: Is Rotavirus contributing to an increase of diarrhoea in a region of Spain?
abstract: Diarrhoeal illnesses are the most frequent of notifiable diseases in Aragon. Physicians notify diarrhoea cases with presumed infectious origin on a weekly basis. Following an increase in 2005-2006, we aimed to identify the responsible organism(s) in order to inform control measures. We described seasonality of diarrhoea notifications for 1998-2004 and 2005-2006. We calculated correlations between diarrhoea notifications and enteric pathogens diagnosed in two Aragonese laboratories, and applied linear regression using coefficients of determination (r2). In 2005-2006 the winter peak of diarrhoea notifications increased from 2494 to 3357 weekly cases (34.6%) and the peak in Rotavirus diagnoses from 15 to 39 weekly cases. The correlation of diarrhoea notifications with Rotavirus was 0.05 in 1998-2004 and 0.42 in 2005-2006. The model for 1998-2004 included Salmonella enterica, Giardia lamblia and Clostridium difficile (r2=0.08) and for 2005-2006 Rotavirus and Astrovirus (r2=0.24). Our results suggest that Rotavirus contributed to the increase of diarrhoea notifications. We recommend determining the disease burden of Rotavirus in order to guide vaccination policies.
authors.affiliation: Field Epidemiology Training Programme, National Centre of Epidemiology, Carlos III Health Institute, Spain (PEAC). lisannegerstel@gmail.com
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gerstel
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adiego
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Luquero
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Revillo
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrasa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valenciano
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors