ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Although the rotavirus-related neonatal death occurred in western part of Kyeonggi Province recently, there were just a few reports about rotavirus gastroentertis in domestic since 2000. We proposed to investigate changes of epidemiology and clinical features of rotavirus gastroenteritis for the last 2 years. METHODS: We selected 166 patients diagnosed as gastroenteritis from January, 2002 to July, 2003 and reviewed the admission records retrospectively such as age distribution, sex ratio, seasonal distribution, admission period, laboratory data and dehydration type in the rotavirus group (RVG) and non-RVG. RESULTS: The percentage of patient under 3 years was 77% on RVG. The non-RVG showed even age distribution (P< 0.05). In RVG, patients occurred in March frequently and 52% occurred from January to March. In non-RVG, patients occurred highly in February and July (P< 0.05). The average of admission period was higher in RVG than non-RVG (P< 0.05). The percentage of patient admitted for over 10 days was 8% in the RVG. In dehydration severity, the RVG showed mild (51%), moderate (44%) and severe (5%) respectively, but non-RVG showed only mild dehydration (P< 0.05). The laboratory findings' did not have statistic significance between RVG and non-RVG. CONCLUSION: Compared to the previous studies, seasonal peak prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis changed from autumn to spring and patients over 3 years increased. Therefore, we suggest that there are variable serotypes of rotavirus domestically and there is a need for reinvestigation about clinical features and serotypes of rotavirus gastroenteritis.