PREVALENCE OF ROTAVIRUS AMONG UNDER FIVE CHILDREN WITH DIARRHOEA IN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

Abstract

Diarrhoea is one of the major causes of child morbidity and mortality especially in
developing countries. Rotavirus is the most common of the causes of diarrhoea in
children less than five years worldwide and has been reported as the cause of
endemic viral diarrhoea in Nigeria.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of rotavirus among under
five children presenting with diarrhoea in Benin City Nigeria.
A total of four hundred and seventy (470) children below five years with diarrhoea
within the preceding two weeks and who have no obvious cause of chronic
diarrhoea were recruited in a study that lasted between October 2007 and October
2008.
Sixty-five (13.8%) of the stools tested positive for rotavirus antigen using ELISA
kit while ninety (19.2%) stools were detected by electrophoresis. RT-PCR
electrophoresis using VP7 primers shows G1 = 49/90 or 54.4%, G2 = 26/90 or
28.9%, G3 = 19/90 or 21.1%, G4 = 34/90 or 37.8% and G9 = 8/90 or 8.9%. The
highest occurrence was among children aged six to eighteen months. Rotavirus
was found to be easily transmitted to inpatient children who previously did not
present with symptoms of the virus. Vomiting was significantly associated with
rotavirus induced diarrhoea than other symptoms. Majority of the caregivers were
semi-literates with little or no knowledge of causes of diarrhoea in their children.
Breastfeeding was not protective of rotavirus infection and access to pipe borne
water does not affect the rate of rotavirus infection among the population.
It was concluded that prevalence of rotavirus among diarrhoea children of less
than five years in Benin City has been declining in the past twenty years due to
improvement in sanitation and hygiene.
However, it was recommended that rotavirus vaccine be introduced as a means of
protecting children of less than five years from rotavirus infection. In developing a
vaccine, strains peculiar to this environment should be considered. Facilities such
as PCR electrophoresis which are more sensitive in detecting rotavirus in stools
than ELISA should be used in prevalence studies. Basic hygiene such as hand
washing and drying, proper disposal of faeces and bed spacing should be adhered
to in our children’s wards to reduce nosocomial rotavirus infection. Finally,
appropriate health education should be given to caregivers to ensure use of
hospital facilities for treatment of diarrhoea especially when ORS is not tolerated
due to associated vomiting.