Objective To understand epidemiological characteristics of
self -reported acute
gastroenteritis in Hangzhou -Jiaxing -Huzhou area in Zhejiang Province.
Methods According to the
population capacity,the
household interview was conducted among
families selected by multi stage sampling
method from July 2010 to June 2011,and one
person who was approaching birthday in every
family was selected for investigation, including symptoms and
treatment of acute
gastroenteritis.Results Totally 9 548 people were investigated.The monthly
prevalence of acute
gastroenteritis among the surveyed
population was 2.95% and the
incidence was 0.39 per
person year.It was estimated that there would be 5.875 6 million cases of acute
gastroenteritis occurred during this year in the area.
Logistic regression analysis showed that monthly
prevalence in
female was higher than in
male.The monthly
prevalence reached the high level in July and August.The monthly
prevalence in
preschool children was the highest.The monthly
prevalence in
rural population was higher than that in the
urban population.Besides,the monthly
prevalence in those of
family number ≥3 was higher than that of
family number less than 3.Totally,56.38% of the cases visited docter,and 54.67% of the cases took
antibiotics;13.48%reported
work absence and 2.13% reported
school absence due to the illness.Conclusion The
disease burden of acute
gastroenteritis could be heavy in Hangzhou -Jiaxing -Huzhou area.
Gender,
education,
season,residence and the size of
family may have some effects on the occurrence of acute
gastroenteritis.