[Ten-year retrospective study of rotavirus infection in the province of Castellón (Spain)].

OBJECTIVE

To determine the percentage of rotavirus infection in children aged less than 14 years old and the epidemiology in area 02 of the province of Castellón (Spain).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a retrospective study from January 1995 to December 2004 in which 14,068 stool samples from pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis were analyzed. The variables analyzed were sex, age, origin, diagnosis of rotavirus, and date of diagnosis. Differences were considered statistically significant if p<0.05.

RESULTS

Rotavirus was detected in 11.9% of the samples (1687 cases) in the 10 years of the study, 12.14 % corresponded to boys and 11.81% to girls (p=0.5459). The mean age of the population was 2.63 years. The highest percentage of cases occurred in the group aged 1- 4 years old (14.1%; p<0.001) and in outpatients (12.76%; p<0.05). In this geographical region, there was a significant tendency (p<0.001) for rotavirus to occur in the winter months.

CONCLUSION

Rotavirus is one of the main causes of morbidity in children both in the hospital and the outpatient setting. Children aged less than 4 years old are most frequently affected, especially those aged 1 year. The infection appears mainly in winter.