Rotavirus Epidemiology

Rotavirus A, which accounts for more than 90% of rotavirus gastroenteritis in humans, is endemic worldwide. Each year rotavirus causes millions of cases of diarrhoea in developing countries, almost 2 million resulting in hospitalisation and an estimated 611,000 resulting in death. In the United States alone, over 2.7 million cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis occur annually, 60,000 children are hospitalised and around 37 die from the results of the infection. The major role of rotavirus in causing diarrhoea is not widely recognised within the public health community, particularly in developing countries. Almost every child has been infected with rotavirus by age five. It is the leading single cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and children, being responsible for about 20% of cases, and accounts for 50% of the cases requiring hospitalisation. Boys are twice as likely to be admitted to hospital as girls.

In temperate areas, rotavirus infections occur primarily in the winter, but in the tropics they occur throughout the year; the difference is partly explained by seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. The number attributable to food contamination is unknown.

Outbreaks of rotavirus A diarrhoea are common among hospitalised infants, young children attending day care centres, and elderly people in nursing homes. An outbreak caused by contaminated municipal water occurred in Colorado in 1981. During 2005, the largest recorded epidemic of diarrhoea occurred in Nicaragua. This unusually large and severe outbreak was associated with mutations in the rotavirus A genome, possibly helping the virus escape the prevalent immunity in the population. A similar large outbreak occurred in Brazil in 1977.

Rotavirus B, also called adult diarrhoea rotavirus or ADRV, has caused major epidemics of severe diarrhoea affecting thousands of people of all ages in China. These epidemics occurred as a result of sewage contamination of drinking water.Rotavirus B infections also occurred in India in 1998; the causative strain was named CAL. Unlike ADRV, the CAL strain is endemic. To date, epidemics caused by rotavirus B have been confined to mainland China, but surveys indicate a lack of immunity to this species in the United States.

Rotavirus C has been associated with rare and sporadic cases of diarrhoea in children in many countries, and outbreaks have occurred in Japan and England.

Further Reading

• Rotavirus
• Rotavirus Symptoms
• Rotavirus Transmission
• Rotavirus Mechanisms
• Rotavirus Diagnosis
• Rotavirus Treatment
• Rotavirus Prevention
• Rotavirus in Animals

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