Rotavirus infection in Tanzania: a virological, epidemiological and clinical study among young children

Abstract

A. M. & Mhalu, F. Rotavirus infection in Tanzania: a virological, epidemiological and clinical study among young children. APMIS 100: 790-796, 1992. Rotavirus infection in the Dar es Salaam area of Tanzania was studied in 99 hospitalized children with acute diarrhoea and 99 hospitalized non-diarrhoea referents matched for sex and age. Of the diarrhoea cases 43.4% had rotavirus in the stools as opposed to 15.2% of the referents. The high carrier rate among the referents represents a serious risk of nosocomial transmission. More referents than cases had serum IgG antibodies to rotavirus, 52.5% and 35.4%, respectively (P < 0.02), while there was no correlation with serum IgM and IgA or faecal IgA antibodies. The latex agglutination test had a sensitivity comparable to that of electron microscopy (100%) and a specificity of 93.8%. The Slidex test appeared to be superior to the Rotalex test in that it gives very few false-positive reactions. The SDS-PAGE patterns of 11 RNA segments were compatible with the presence of group A strains with considerable heterogeneity among the strains. Symptoms and signs and some environmental data were recorded. None of them was clearly associated with rotavirus infection among the diarrhoea cases. It is concluded that rotavirus is a major cause of acute infectious diarrhoea in Tanzania.

Genetic Diversity of Circulating Rotavirus Strains in Tanzania Prior to the Introduction of Vaccination

“…The seasonal variation observed in the current study is further supported by findings from previous studies from the same region [36], [41]–[43]. Studies conducted during cool months of the year [41], [42] found high prevalence of rotavirus compared to studies conducted during hot months of the year [36], [43]. Understanding seasonal patterns of rotavirus will be useful when considering the appropriate timing of immunization booster programs in settings, which have reported poor efficacy of rotavirus vaccine and have demonstrated strong seasonality.…”

“…Children with diarrhea were six times more likely to be infected with rotavirus than those without diarrhea. The study confirms findings from other studies twenty years ago in the same location and elsewhere [42], [44] indicating that rotavirus is still a major pathogen causing diarrhea in children in Tanzania. The presence of rotavirus among controls may represent reservoirs for transmission in the community.…”

“…We observed high prevalence in studies conducted during the cool months of the year [41], [42] compared to studies conducted in hot months of the year, Table 2 [36], [43].…”

Prevalence and Diversity of Rotavirus Strains in Children with Acute Diarrhea from Rural Communities in the Limpopo Province, South Africa, from 1998 to 2000

“…Similar trends have been reported from many developing countries, namely India [56]; North African countries, such as Egypt [47] and Tunisia [50]; Central African countries, such as Malawi [48]; East African countries, such as Tanzania [44] and Kenya [45,46]; West African countries, such as Guinea-Bissau [51] and Nigeria [49]; and other Southern African countries, such as Zimbabwe [52].…”

“…The majority of previous studies in the RSA used diarrheal stool specimens obtained from hospitalized patients in urban and periurban areas [4,5,20,21,23,26,[41][42][43]; only 1 study addressed the HRV types in a rural community from a different province, namely Kwazulu-Natal [26]. Investigations into the HRV types circulating in other African countries, namely Tanzania [44], Kenya [45,46], Egypt [47], Malawi [48], Nigeria [49], Tunisia [50], and Guinea-Bissau [51], also focused predominantly on diarrheal specimens from urban and periurban communities, with limited studies in rural communities in Kenya [45,46], Zimbabwe [52], Ghana [53,54], and Gabon [55].…”