Diarrhea among hospitalized children under five: A call for inclusion of rotavirus vaccine to the national immunization program in Indonesia.

CONTEXT: Rotavirus diarrhea is a common disease worldwide which mostly affects children under five years old. Rotavirus infection causes severe diarrhea and leads to substantial health care costs. In Indonesia the rotavirus vaccine has been available since 2011, however it has not been included into the National Immunization Program. This study aims to describe the proportion of rotavirus in children under 5 in Indonesia, the clinical characteristics of rotavirus infections, and the rotavirus strains circulating in the country during 2010-2015. METHODS: Children under five years of age with acute watery diarrhea were prospectively identified and enrolled through the active diarrhea surveillance system in 5 sites in four provinces in Indonesia during 2010-2015. The rotavirus specimens were tested using Enzyme Immunoassay. Bivariate logistic regression tests were performed to compare rotavirus positive and negative results with respect to the collected demographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: From January 2010 to December 2015, the average annual rotavirus prevalence among children hospitalized with acute watery diarrhea in four provinces in Indonesia was 47.5%. Rotavirus diarrhea occurred mostly in children under 2 years of age. Of all age groups, children aged 6-11 and 12-23 months had the highest prevalence of rotavirus diarrhea in all years (54.2% and 50.6%, respectively). This study found that the most prevalent of G and P genotypes were G1P8 in 2010 (63.2%), 2011 (64.1%) and 2012 (74.6%) and G3P8 in 2013 (49.7%), 2014 (82.5%) and 2015 (84.4%) CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that rotavirus is a major cause of diarrhea in hospitalized children in Indonesia. These findings highlight the need for inclusion of the rotavirus vaccine to the National Immunization Program in Indonesia.

Burden of severe rotavirus diarrhea in indonesia.

Globally, rotavirus is the leading cause of diarrhea-related hospitalizations and deaths among young children, but the burden of rotavirus disease in Indonesia is poorly documented. From January through December 2006, we conducted prospective surveillance (inpatient and outpatient) among children aged <5 years at 6 hospitals in 6 provinces of Indonesia, using standardized methodology. Of 2240 enrolled children hospitalized for diarrhea, 1345 (60%) were rotavirus positive. Of 176 children enrolled in outpatient clinics in 3 hospitals, 73 (41%) were rotavirus positive. Among children hospitalized for diarrhea, dehydration was more common among those who tested positive for rotavirus than among those who did not (91% vs 82%; P < .05), as was vomiting (86% vs 67%; P < .05). Children aged 6-23 months experienced 72% of all rotavirus episodes. Rotavirus prevalence increased slightly in the cool, dry season. The most commonly detected genotypes were G9 (30%) and P[6] (56%). G1P[6] and G9P[6] accounted for 34% and 21% of strains, respectively. A high proportion of genotype P[6] was detected, in combination with the common G types G1 and G9. Available rotavirus vaccines would likely be efficacious against the most common circulating strains, but continued monitoring of uncommon genotypes is needed.