© 1990 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Rotavirus Infection and Rotavirus Serum Antibody in a Cohort of Children from Gaza Observed from Birth to the Age of One Year

*Unit of Clinical Virology, Clinical Mircrobiology Department, Hadassah University Hospital Jerusalem, Israel.
**Centre for Primary Health Care Gaza.
National Institute for Virology Sandringham, South Africa.
Simhon A (Unit of Clinical Virology, Clinical Microbiology Department, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel), Abed Y, Schoub B, Lasch E E and Morag A. Rotavirus infection and rotavirus serum antibody in a cohort of children from Gaza observed from birth to the age of one year. International Journal of Epidemiology 1990, 19: 160163.
Rotaviruses were studied in a cohort of children from Gaza, during their first year of life. Surveillance was effected through visits to the local health clinic by parents and infants, and to a lesser extent, field workers home visits. The observed rate of diarrhoea (all causes), and of rotavirus-associated diarrhoea was 1.25 and 0.1 episode per child-year, respectively. Of the 130 diarrhoea episodes in the cohort, only 6.9% were rotavirus-associated. Only nine (37.5%) of 24 children in whom rotavirus antigen was detected experienced a bout of diarrhoea illness. However, 59.2% of cohort children had rotavirus serum antibodies by one year of age. The data indicate that rotavirus excretion in Gazan chilldren tends to be asymptomatic during the first year of life.
Revised 1 June 1989