title: Epidemiology and economic burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in hospitals and paediatric clinics in Taiwan, 2005-2006.
abstract: Baseline estimates of rotavirus disease burden and epidemiology are useful for the evaluation of newly introduced rotavirus vaccination programs. Prospective, cross-sectional surveillance for acute gastroenteritis (AGE) was conducted in hospitals and outpatient paediatric clinics in Taiwan to assess the prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis and associated medical costs prior to rotavirus vaccine introduction. Faecal specimens were collected from 1130 children <5 years of age from December 2004 to June 2006. The year-round rate of rotavirus detection in faecal specimens was 46% for children seen in hospitals and 14% for children seen in paediatric clinics. In the winter season, the burden was higher, reaching a peak of 60% and 21% in hospitals and paediatric clinics, respectively. The rotavirus genotype distributions were 39% (G1), 34% (G9), 12% (G2), 15% (G3), and 0.3% (G5). Total medical and nonmedical costs were US $754 for a rotavirus hospitalisation and US $60 for an outpatient clinic visit. Parental work loss averaged 4.0 days per hospital visit and 1.3 days per paediatric clinic visit. These data show that rotavirus was associated with a substantial proportion of AGE medical visits and had considerable medical costs prior to rotavirus vaccine introduction.
authors.affiliation: Merck & Co., Inc., PO Box 1000, North Wales, PA 19486, USA. christopher_mast@merck.com
authors.forename: T Christopher
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Mast
authors.forename: Po-Yen
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Kun-Chia
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chun-Ming
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Hsiao Chuan
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-Chen
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Da-Pi
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Hung-Chih
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lac
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005838:Genotype; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology