Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of rotaviral diarrhoea in children from Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot.

The aim of the present work was to analyse clinical picture of rotaviral diarrhoea and its incidence in children from Tri-city. The study was conducted on 773 children aged 1 month-11 years, who were treated in selected hospitals in 1997 due to acute diarrhoea. Apart from physical examination and collecting patients' medical history, each child was subjected to routine laboratory investigations in accordance with clinical indications. Rotaviral aetiology of the infection was confirmed in 275 out of 773 patients with acute diarrhoea. In 80.7% cases, the disease affected children aged 7-36 months old and it was more frequent in boys than in girls. Acute diarrhoea was diagnosed mainly during cold months of the year, and the increase of its incidence was recorded between March and May. The duration of the disease usually did not exceed 3 days and its symptoms included fever, vomiting and dehydration which normally required parenteral administration of fluids. Statistical analysis was performed in order to estimate the differences in the incidence and intensity of the symptoms of rotaviral and bacterial diarrhoea. The present study showed that clinical picture of rotaviral diarrhoea in children from Tri-city was similar to that reported in literature on the subject, but there were differences regarding the seasonal occurrence of the infection which was probably related to the climate of analysed region.