epidemiology of acute rotavirus diarrhea among hospitalized children under five years of age in hefei, china, during 2015 - 2018

Background: rotavirus infection is still the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in children under five years of age worldwide. it is also a serious public health concern in china. objectives: this study aimed to obtain information about rotavirus diarrhea among hospitalized children in hefei city, anhui province, china, in recent years. methods: we conducted a retrospective study over four years (2015 - 2018) examining hospital admission records of rotavirus infections at the first affiliated hospital of anhui medical university in hefei city of anhui province, china. results: a total of 1,095 cases with acute viral gastroenteritis requiring hospital admission from january 2015 to december 2018 were analyzed. among them, 276 cases were positive for rotavirus a infection, accounting for 25.21% of the total number of children suffering from acute diarrhea. the detection rate of rotavirus a was the highest in children aged 1 - 2 years. the peak month for rotavirus infection during 2015 - 2018 was december and january. the hospitalized children with rotavirus infection showed dehydration, electrolyte disorder, liver function abnormality, and myocardial enzyme abnormality.conclusions: rotavirus is still the first pathogen of acute viral diarrhea in children in hefei, especially children < 2 years of age, which highlights the need for widespread rotavirus immunization in young children.