Prevalence of Norovirus and epidemiology of acute gastroenteritis in children

Pediatric gastroenteritis is a major cause of childhood mortality and morbidity worldwide, especially in developing countries. Diarrhoea can be caused by a variety of different pathogens including bacteria, viruses and parasites. Among the viruses; Rotavirus has been extensively studied and is responsible for 44% of GE cases. As the Rotavirus vaccination coverage improves, the causative agent’s shift may be more towards the Calciviruses (Norovirus, Sappovirus) and other similar viruses, and consequently the investigations should focus on these viruses in future. This study was conducted in a Teaching hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana State included 118 cases of Gastroenteritis of which 6 cases were positive for Norovirus (NoV) i.e.; 5% of cases were NoV positive by RIDASCREEN EIA and RIDA QUICK, the rapid test for NoV virus. These 6 cases were children between 7 months and one and half year old. The age profile showed a fall in the number of diarrhoea cases as the child’s age increases. 63 (53.3%) were male children and 55 (46.6%) were female children. In children < 2 years (n=83), 22 (26.5%) were breast fed, 30 (36.1%) were bottle fed and 7 (8.4%) were on mixed feeds. Among mothers 25.42% never washed their hands with soap, 60.16% used soap occasionally and only 14.4% always used soap. 43.2 % presented with no dehydration, 27.96% presented with some dehydration and 28.8% presented with severe dehydration. 70.3% of mothers continued to feed during diarrhoea. Regarding the treatment used for diarrhoea before admission in hospital, 42.37% used ORS, 27.11% used both ORS and antibiotics, 55.08% were on antibiotics and 11% took no treatment at all.