Rotavirus infection in Tanzania: a virological, epidemiological and clinical study among young children

Rotavirus infection in the Dar es Salaam area of Tanzania was studied in 99 hospitalized children with acute diarrhoea and 99 hospitalized non-diarrhoea referents matched for sex and age. Of the diarrhoea cases 43.4% had rotavirus in the stools as opposed to 15.2% of the referents. The high carrier rate among the referents represents a serious risk of nosocomial transmission. More referents than cases had serum IgG antibodies to rotavirus, 52.5% and 35.4%, respectively (P < 0.02), while there was no correlation with serum IgM and IgA or faecal IgA antibodies. The latex agglutination test had a sensitivity comparable to that of electron microscopy (100%) and a specificity of 93.8%. The Slidex test appeared to be superior to the Rotalex test in that it gives very few false-positive reactions. The SDS-PAGE patterns of 11 RNA segments were compatible with the presence of group A strains with considerable heterogeneity among the strains. Symptoms and signs and some environmental data were recorded. None of them was clearly associated with rotavirus infection among the diarrhoea cases. It is concluded that rotavirus is a major cause of acute infectious diarrhoea in Tanzania.