Abstract

Acute diarrhea with severe dehydration has been a major worldwide cause of death in children younger than 5 years of age. Etiological studies of gastroenteritis have shown that rotavirus causes 40–50% of acute diarrhea among infants and children in both developing and developed nations. Numerous epidemiologic studies in the US and the World Health Organization have documented the clinical importance and high prevalence of severe rotavirus disease. The main aim of this review is to provide readers a snapshot of epidemiologic and clinical features of rotavirus diarrhea and identify epidemiologic patterns that would specifically define rotavirus disease based on studies done primarily by the CDC and Rotavirus Surveillance Network. Every year, rotavirus causes 111million episodes of gastroenteritis in three clinical settings (mild cases requiring home care, clinic visit in moderate cases, and hospitalization for severe cases). Regarding high frequency of rotavirus infection among children aged <5 years old, development of rotavirus vaccines and prevention programs will reduce the morbidity of Rotavirus diseases that will require better-quality surveillance of rotavirus disease burden among children worldwide.