Epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhea among infants and young children in China

Objective To investigate the epidemic features and molecular epidemiological characteristics of rotavirus(RV) diarrhea among infants and young children,and provide dynamic information for preparation of RV vaccine.Methods Seventy-four literatures on RV diarrhea research which momitored for 1 year or more covered 19 provinces,4 autonomous regions,4 municipalities(33 cities,6 counties) in China from 2003 to 2010 were reviewed.The status of RV infection in Urumqi,Xinjiang were also analysed.Results The median detective rate of RV in hospitalized children with dliarrhea was 47.4％ (19.7％-64.9％),and the rate in outpatient with dianrhea was 34.1％(23.3％-38.9％ ).The median detective rate of RV in part of inpatient and outpatient was 37.6％ (9.6％-65.6％).Children aged from 6 months to 2 years were still the main population of RV infection.Peak season of RV disease each year was from September to next February,there were slightly differences in different regions and different years.G3P [ 8] was the most prevalent in China from 2003 to 2010,followed by GIP [ 8 ].Conclusions RV prevalent strains are diverse and fluctuated and novel strains are emergencing occasionally,which indicate the necessity to conduct long-term rotavirus surveillance in China. Key words: Rotavirus; infections; Epidemiology; Children