title: Primary care-based surveillance to estimate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis among children aged less than 5 years in six European countries.
abstract: This observational, prospective study was undertaken to estimate the burden of rotavirus (RV) gastroenteritis (GE) leading to general practitioner (GP)/family paediatrician (FP) visits among children aged <5 years in Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. Children aged <5 years presenting with acute GE provided stool samples for rapid RV testing. RV+ samples were confirmed and typed by RT-PCR. Demographic and clinical data were collected for all RVGE episodes. Transmission patterns among other household children aged <5 years were also assessed. From November 2005 to May 2007, excluding data from the UK, 497/3,813 (13.0%) children aged <5 years presenting with acute GE to GP/FP and tested were RV+ by PCR. Most RVGE cases (69.1%) occurred in children aged <2 years, occurred between December and May (93.1%) and were moderate or severe by Vesikari score (92.9%). RV strain distribution varied between countries: G9P[8] was the most common type in Poland (54/76) and Spain (172/196), G1P[8] was predominant in the Czech Republic (56/64) and Italy (46/107), and G4P[8] and G1P[8] both prevailed in Germany (17/54 and 13/54, respectively). A total of 24/122 (19.7%) children aged <5 years resident in the same household as a PCR+ study participant also developed RVGE. Conclusion. This multinational epidemiological study in Europe shows that RV is easily transmitted among household children, with RVGE burden highest among children aged <2 years accessing primary healthcare for acute GE.
authors.affiliation: Area de Investigación en Vacunas, Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública, CSISP, Centre for Public Health Research, Avda Catalunya 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain. diez_jav@gva.es
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diez-Domingo
authors.forename: Jose-Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Baldo
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patrzalek
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pazdiora
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cantarutti
authors.forename: Jean-Yves
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Pirçon
authors.forename: Montse
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soriano-Gabarró
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D019370:Observation; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*