title: The epidemiology and burden of childhood rotavirus infection in a tertiary hospital in Sabah, Malaysia.
abstract: We aimed to determine the epidemiology and burden of rotavirus (RV) gastroenteritis (GE) in children requiring hospital care in an urban setting in Sabah, Malaysia. A prospective study of all patients younger than 12 years of age admitted with acute GE to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Sabah, over a six-month period (October 2005 to March 2006) was conducted. During the study period, a total of 167 children with acute GE who had stool samples examined for RV were studied. RV accounted for 16% of all diarrhoeal cases, and 1.7% of all admissions to the children's wards during the study period. There was no difference in severity of GE between RV and non-RV groups. RV infection is a common cause of childhood GE requiring hospital care in Sabah.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Hospital Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Cheah
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Soo
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*