Etiology of diarrheal hospitalizations following rotavirus vaccine implementation and association of enteric pathogens with malnutrition among under-five children in India

Abstract

Abstract Malnourished children are at higher risk of mortality and morbidity following diarrheal illness and certain enteropathogens have been associated with malnutrition in children. Very few studies have comprehensively looked at the etiology of diarrhea in malnourished children and most have used conventional diagnostic methods with suboptimal sensitivity. We used a highly sensitive molecular approach against a broad range of pathogens causing diarrhea and examined their association with malnutrition. In addition, we looked at the pathogen diversity of pediatric diarrhea, three years after the nationwide rotavirus vaccine introduction to understand the evolving landscape of pathogens, which is crucial for planning strategies to further reduce the diarrhea burden. Clinical details and diarrheal stool samples were collected from hospitalized children aged 2 years. These data on the prevalence and epidemiology of enteropathogens identified potential pathogens for public health interventions.

Keywords

• Malnutrition
• Children
• Diarrhea
• Enteropathogens
• Molecular testing
• Low resource settings