Rotavirus gastro-enteritis in hospitalized children with acute diarrhoea in Zambia.

The clinical and epidemiological aspects of rotavirus diarrhoea were studied in hospitalized children with acute diarrhoea in Lusaka, Zambia. Two hundred and fifty-six (24.0%) of 1069 children admitted to the study were shedding rotavirus. The rotavirus-positive rate was highest in children less than 1 year of age (37.0%) and it was also high in those less than 6 months old. Rotavirus diarrhoea was seen throughout the year with a higher rotavirus-positive rate in the dry season. In rotavirus-positive diarrhoea patients, more children were dehydrated (82.4%) than in the rotavirus-negative group (56.2%). Rotavirus infection was more common in the children with normal nutritional status (27.6%, 162/588) than in those with malnutrition (19.3%, 93/482). The associated case fatality rate in the rotavirus-positive group was 6.4%, significantly less than in the rotavirus-negative group (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.24-0.79), and mortality cases were seen only in children less than 2 years old.