Demographical and clinical features of suspected cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis at Al-Baha region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background/Objective: Rotavirus is the main reason of diarrhea with gastroenteritis during childhood. This study aims to identify the demographical and clinical features of rotavirus (RV) suspected cases at Al-Baha Region. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, it was conducted on selected 298 suspected cases with RV gathered from three noteworthy hospitals in Al-Baha area (King Fahd Hospital, Prince Meshari Hospital, and Aqiq General Hospital). The selected cases had been included based on case definition of the World Health Organization for rotavirus gastroenteritis. The data were collected from existing data in the selected hospitals' records, it was then analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The findings of this study expressed that male children are somewhat more than females (55% to 45%), the majority of them are under 2 years and most commonly are at infancy period (53.4%) and the greater part of them were admitted to Aqiq General Hospital (56.4%). The study showed that the clinical features of the hospitalized children with suspected rotavirus as 65.5% had stool motions at least twice a day, about 66.5% had no vomiting, while 59.1% with mild dehydration and 30.5% with moderate dehydration, 42.3% with lethargy, 35.2% with irritability, 53.4% with sunken eyes, and 48.3% unable to drink water. The children of the age group (≤2 years old) had significantly severe dehydration and diarrhea and were more febrile compared to other children. Conclusion: The rotavirus is a major reason of diarrhea with gastroenteritis among under 5 years children in Al-Baha region. Rotavirus suspected cases have been featured by severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and mild dehydration among suspected case in the governmental hospitals at Al-Baha region.

Keywords

• clinical features
• gastroenteritis
• rotavirus
• suspected cases