title: [Rotavirus prevalence in infants and children in the public healthcare system of the state of Pernambuco].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rotaviruses are considered important etiological agents of acute gastroenteritis and a common cause of the hospitalization of children aged zero to four years-old. In Brazil, the incidence of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children is 12 to 42% and the distribution of infection is related to seasonality, which apparently occurs in different periods and intensity according to each region. The study investigated group A rotavirus in fecal samples of suspected children attended by the public health system of the State of Pernambuco.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diagnosis was achieved by ELISA and the Latex agglutination test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 171 samples studied, 33 (19.3%) presented positivity for Rotavirus A. Among positive samples, 72.7% belonged to male patients and 27.3% to female. Among the positive casuistic, 15.2% were vaccinated. When comparing the results obtained for the ELISA and Latex agglutination tests, 100% agreement between positivity by Latex agglutination and ELISA was verified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high incidence of this infection reinforces the need to monitor this virus and define health policies concerning its diagnosis, prophylaxis, improvement in socioeconomic conditions and the refinement of the vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Virologia, Faculdade Maurício de Nassau, Recife, PE. maelu_torres@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mariluce Lima da
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Joelma Rodrigues de
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Maria Mabel Monte de
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Melo
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D017150:Public Sector; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D022243:Rotavirus Vaccines