DOI: 10.36347/sasjm

Pages: 199-201

Diarrhoea is a major public health problem throughout the world and in developing countries, and prevalence of diarrhoea has not changed for the past years and remains as the third largest leading cause of deaths among children of under five years age. Human rotavirus A remains still as the major cause of diarrhea in children below 5 years of age. Since very less data is available on rotavirus disease burden, and deaths among children in South India, especially in Chennai. This study highlights the presence of rotavirus diarrhoea among the children and analyze the gender difference among the affected children. A total of 100 Children under five years of age group presenting with diarrhoea, admitted to hospitals were randomly selected for this cross –sectional study. The stool specimens of these children presented with watery diarrhoea were collected and transported to the laboratory within 24 hours of sample collection and were detected by Enzyme Immuno Assay. The prevalence of rotavirus infection was found to be 40%, among them male were affected than females. Statistical analysis using SPSS version 21 showed a p value <0.03which has been found to be significant. This study showed that presence rotavirus was high among children admitted to hospital due to diarrhea in Chennai. This increase in HRVA detection helps in better understanding of rotavirus disease among children in Chennai and will provide data for giving vaccination in routine immunization schedule.