International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI) | Volume VI, Issue XII, December 2019 | ISSN 2321–2705
Dr. OKOH, Jocelyn Cletus1*, Dr. OGBONNA, Innocent Okonkwo2, SHITTA, Nasisi Namuma3
1,2,3Department of Biological Sciences, (Microbiology Unit), University of Mkar, Mkar, Benue state, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: – Rotaviruses are a leading cause of severe acute gastroenteritis, resulting in approximately 453,000 annual deaths among children especially those less than five years of age with over 85% of these deaths occurring in the less developed countries of Asia and Africa. Children experience multiple rotavirus infections during childhood which almost are asymptomatic. In Nigeria, rotavirus accounts for over 20% of all cases of childhood diarrhoea annually. Transmission is via the faeco-oral route and distribution is worldwide. The study involved 260 asymptomatic school-aged pupils (aged 1-12) from which faeces were collected in sterile tubes between March and September, 2018 and analyzed immediately without storage using the commercially available Rotavirus VP6 antigen test kit from Bioneovan® Diagnostics, China, following the manufacturer’s instructions. A questionnaire was designed and administered to obtain data on socio-demography, clinical history and some potential risk factors that might be related to rotavirus infection. Data obtained from this study was analyzed using SPSS version 20 and Pearson Chi-square (χ²) test of Association was used to test significant association between variables at 95% confidence Interval and p-value ≤ 0.05 being statistically significant. Results showed that only 24 were positive, giving a prevalence rate of 9.23%. Results also revealed a prevalence of 3.46% for females while males recorded a higher 5.77%. With respect to the Age range distribution, 26.54% were for ages 1-4 years of which 1.54% was positive; 40.39% for ages 5-8 years with a lower burden of Rotavirus infection, and 33.08% distribution for ages 9-12 years with the highest burden of rotavirus infection and there exist a statistically significant association between Age and the onset of rotavirus infection. Findings further revealed that rotavirus is an important viral pathogen of public health importance among school-aged pupils in Gboko, Benue State. The prevalence rate of 9.23% from this study is a pointer to the urgent need for massive commencement of nationwide vaccination of children as asymptomatic carriers of the virus abound and may be a serious threat to the health of the public as the virus is shed from time to time.
Keywords: Rotavirus, Prevalence, Asymptomatic, Vaccination.