Assessment of the Incidence of Rotavirus Infection among Under-Five Children Attending Health Centres in Selected Communities of Ndola, Copperbelt Province, Zambia

Rotavirus infection is a highly infectious public health concern among under-five children characterized mainly by diarrhoea, vomiting and fever spread through oral-faecal route from contaminated water, food and objects. Rotavirus infection is of public health concern because it is highly contagious and yet can be prevented. Diarrhoea ranks third among the common causes of mortality in Zambia among under-fives which accounts for about 9%. Statistics obtained at Ndola District Health Management Office revealed that despite high coverage of rotavirus vaccine, diarrhoea incidence had risen over the years from 2011 to 2015 by 32.9/1000. When the rotavirus enters the body through ingestion, it infects the stomach and intestinal tract (gastroenteritis) damaging the cells of the small intestine making it difficult for the absorption of water and nutrients by the body Currently stool is not routinely tested for rotavirus infection, making it difficult to determine its incidence and effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine (RotarixTM), an intervention that was put in place on 27th November 2013 to mitigate diarrhoea disease. The objective of this study is to determine the incidence of rotavirus infection among under-fives attending health centres in selected communities of Ndola. Purposive sampling was used to select 380 under-fives aged 3 months - 36 months who presented at health facilities with diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. Stool specimen was tested for rotavirus infection using Combi-Strip Rapid Diagnostic Test. The study was conducted at the specified period in time from 1st March 2017 to 28th September 2017 to determine relationships and associations among suspected variables using cross-sectional analytic community-based study design. Statistical Package for Social Science software was used for data analysis. Tests used included Pearson’s Chi-square and logistic regression. Results have revealed 11% incidence rate of rotavirus infection and significant statistical association among severity categories of rotavirus infection with the uptake of rotavirus vaccine (p 0.001). Children who took two recommended doses of the vaccine 185 (59.5%) were more likely to have a mild category (< 7 scores) of rotavirus infection. In conclusion, results indicate that rotavirus vaccine reduces the incidence and if a child has diarrhoea it is less severe which yields good outcomes.