Rotavirus infection among Sudanese children younger than 5 years of age: a cross sectional hospital - based study

Diarrheal diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among chil dren less than five years of age. The World Health Organization attributed a worldwide estimate of 17% mortality due to diarrhea in children younger than 5 years of age, 40% of them were in Africa [ 1 ]. Rotavirus A is well known as the leading cause of diarrhea in young children worldwide and 82% of rotavirus deaths among children in the poorest countries [ 2 ]. Rotavirus estimated to account for 41% of hospitalized cases of acute gastroenteritis among children in Sub - Saharan Africa [ 3 ]. Th e annual rate of rotavirus infection among under - five year old children in the Middle East and North Africa was estimated as 42% [ 3 ]. Rotaviruses are members of the Reoviridae family can possess a genome of 11 segments of double stranded Ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) that encode six viral structural proteins and six non - structural proteinsIntroduction: In Sudan, rotavirus has been one of the important causative agents of diarrhea among children. Rotavirus A is well known as t he leading cause of diarrhea in young children worldwide. It was estima ted to account for 41% of hospitalized cases of acute gastroenteritis among children in Sub - Saharan Africa. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the common clinical presentations of rotavirus A infection a mong Sudanese children with gastroenter itis seeking management in hospitals. Methods: 755 Sudanese children less than 5 years of age suffering from acute gastroenteritis in hospital settings were included. The positive stool specimens for rotavirus A was used for extract R ibonucleic acid (RNA) and the RNA product was loaded on formaldehyde agarose gel and visualized under UV illumination. Results: Of the 755 children, 430(57%) were males while 325(43%) were female. The age of children ranged from 1 to 60 months. There were 631 (84%) children who were less than 24 months of age. Out of the 755 stool samples, 121(16%) were positive for rotavirus. Of the 121 infected children with rotaviru s, 79(65.3%) were male and 42(34.7%) were female and the highest infection rate was seen among 91(75.2%) of chil dren up to 12 months of age. Children of illiterate parents were more infected with rotavirus than children of educated parents. Severe dehydration present among 70% of infected children with rotavirus. Conclusion: Since this study is hospital - based, the 1 6% prevalence rate may not reflect the true prevalence among Sudanese children, thus a community - based surveillance is neede