The Epidemiology and Disease Burden of Rotavirus in Vietnam: Sentinel Surveillance at 6 Hospitals

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 183; no. 12; pp. 1707 - 1712
• Main Authors: Van Man, Nguyen, Van Trang, Nguyen, Lien, Huynh Phuong, Trach, Dang Duc, Thanh, Nguyen Thi Hien, Van Tu, Phan, Long, Nguyen Thanh, Luan, Le Thi, Ivanoff, Bernard, Gentsch, Jon R., Glass, Roger I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 15-06-2001; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Child, Preschool; Coinfection; Death; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - epidemiology; Diarrhea - prevention & control; Diarrhea - virology; Epidemiology; Female; Fluid Therapy; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genotype; Hospitalization; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Major Articles; Male; Microbiology; Mortality; Preventive medicine; Rotavirus; Rotavirus - classification; Rotavirus - genetics; Rotavirus Infections - epidemiology; Rotavirus Infections - prevention & control; Rotavirus Infections - virology; Seasons; Sentinel Surveillance; Surveillance; Vaccination; Vietnam; Vietnam - epidemiology; Virology; Asia; Vietnam; Human; Mixed infection; Typing; Rotavirus; Use; Diarrhea; Vaccine; Epidemiology; Reoviridae; Virus; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Serotype; Child
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/320733

The disease burden of rotavirus diarrhea in Vietnam was assessed by surveillance of children <5 years old who were hospitalized for diarrhea at 3 centers in the north and 3 centers in the south. Rotavirus was identified in 56% (range, 47%–60%) of the 5768 patients surveyed between July 1998 and June 2000. G-typing of the first 224 strains indicated that only 2% were nontypeable, 9% were in mixed infections, and the remainder were of the common serotypes G1, G2, G3, G4, and G9. In Vietnam, diarrhea accounts for 9880 deaths per year, which is ∼15% of all deaths among children <5 years old, or 6.5 deaths per 1000 children. If even 50% of these diarrhea-related deaths in Vietnam were due to rotavirus, the number would represent 4%–8% of all deaths among children <5 years old, 2700–5400 rotavirus-related deaths per year, and 1 death per 280–560 children during the first 5 years of life. Thus, the disease burden of rotavirus in Vietnam is substantial, and programs to encourage the use of oral rehydration should be encouraged while efforts to develop vaccines continue