Modern clinical and laboratory features of the course of rotavirus infection in young children in Zaporozhye region

Abstract

Rotavirus infection occupies a special place in the structure of children's morbidity both in Ukraine and around the world, causing severe dehydrating gastroenteritis mainly in children less than five years of age. Almost every child under the age of five carries a rotavirus infection regardless of race and socio-economic status, which makes it an urgent problem in pediatrics and necessitates its in0depth study.

Purpose — To study the clinical and laboratory features of the rotavirus infection course in young children and determine the factors that affect its severity.

Materials and methods. The analysis of the course of rotavirus infection in 57 children aged 1–24 months who were hospitalized in Zaporizhzhya Regional Infectious Clinical Hospital was perfomed. The severity of rotavirus gastroenteritis was determined according to the Vesikari scale and expressed in points (from 1 to 20).

Results. Children aged 12–24 months accounted for most of the study group — 47.3%, significantly exceeding the number of children under the age of 6 months — 22.8% (p=0.01). In most patients (70.2%) rotavirus infection proceeded in a severe form with a total amount of 15.00 [13.00; 16.00] points on the Vesikari scale. 52.6% of children had complications of the disease, among which the secondary acetonemic syndrome dominated. The disease was significantly more severe in children aged 12–24 months. Their total score was 13.5 [12.00; 15.00], against 10.00 [8.00; 15.00] in children under the age of 6 months (p=0.04) and 12 [10.00; 15.00] in patients aged 6–12 months. Clinical parameters that were assessed as severe by the Vesikari scale and caused a severe course of the disease were the duration of diarrhea (>6 days — 82.1% of children), the maximum number of stools per day (> 6 times — 69.6% of children) and hyperthermia (pyretic body temperature — 45.8% of children). Such comorbid pathology as food allergy and atopic dermatitis was significantly more often detected in children with severe rotavirus infection compared with patients with a mild illness — 40% versus 11.8% of children, respectively (p<0.05).

Conclusions. Rotavirus infection is severe in young children and in most cases has complications. Predictors of its severe course are the age of children 12–24 months and the presence of such comorbid pathology as food allergies and atopic dermatitis.

The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of these Institutes. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies.