Incidence and risk factors of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in northern Ghana.

Binka FN, Anto FK, Oduro AR, Awini EA, Nazzar AK, Armah GE, Asmah RH, Hall AJ, Cutts F, Alexander N, Brown D, Green J, Gray J, Iturriza-Gomara M; The Navrongo Rotavirus Research Group.

Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana. fbinka@africaonline.com.gh

We measured the type-specific incidence of paediatric rotavirus diarrhoea in an area of northern Ghana. Over 1 year, diarrhoea 1717 episodes were identified, of which 677 (39%) were positive for rotavirus. Risk factors for rotavirus infection included old age, wasting, high Vesikari score and the episode occurring in the dry season. Rotavirus-positive episodes tended to be more acute, causing vomiting and greater dehydration, and were more likely to require hospitalization. The incidence was 0.089 episodes per person-year for all diarrhoea, and 0.035 for rotavirus diarrhoea. The observed incidence decreased markedly with distance from the nearest health centre, suggesting a large unobserved burden. G2P[6], G3P[4] and G9P[8] made up more than half the genotypes detected, but the remainder were diverse. There is a large burden of rotavirus diarrhoea, but the effectiveness of future vaccines could be diluted by the high polymorphism of the virus, and the difficulty of reaching remote populations.
 

Publication Types: Multicenter Study

PMID: 12950670