Abstract

Acute gastroenteritis is responsible for the most common childhood disease in developing nations. Viral diarrhoea is most common across children less than 5 years across the world. Among viruses, Rotavirus accounts for 36% of hospitalisation among children less than 5 years. The most vulnerable are children among the age of 6 months to 2 years. 323 stool samples were collected which were tested for the presence of Rotavirus antigen through ELISA and Rotavirus A was confirmed through RT-PCR. Grading of severity for clinical disease was done through Vesikari scoring system. Among the stool sample collected where 231 (71.5%) patients were from OPD and 92 (28.5%) from IPD. Among the OPD patients, Rotavirus positive cases were found to be 95 (41.1%) and non-Rotavirus A cases were 136 (58.9%). Of the IPD patients, children infected with Rotavirus A were 48 (52.2%) whereas the number of non-Rotavirus A infection were 44 (47.8%). Overall, gastroenteritis cases were high among 6-12 months (38.1%), followed by 13-24 months (29.1%) and least among 25-60 months (14.2%) of age. Majority of the children i.e., 51 (35.7%) had a severe score, 49 (34.3%) had moderate score and 43 (30%) had mild score.

Description