Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children worlwide, and vaccines currently being field-tested could be available for childhood immunization in several years. To asses the rotavirus disease in Argentina and the value of future national surveillance for the disease, we reviewed data on rotavirus detections reported by published an unpublished studies conducted in nine Argentine cities and by a multicenter study. Data from these studies indicated that rotavirus was detected in 20 por cent of 5226 specimens (within a range of 6 por cent to 54 por cent for different studies) from children hospitalized for diarrhea and in 9 por cent of 6587 spcimens (within a range of 5 por cent to 22 por cent for different studies) from children who were outpatients, members of mixed populations (hospitalized patiens and outpatients), or survey subjects in community-based studies. The hospital data showed that while rotavirus was detected throughout the year, a peak occurred during the winter months (May-July), when up to half of the children with diarrhea were found positive for rotavirus. Attemped serotyping of 294 rotavirus-positive speciments for G-protein by three laboratories was successful in 230 cases (78 por cent); the resulting data indicated that serotype G1 was the most common (being present in 60 por cent of the successfully serotyped specimens), followed by G2 (in 20 por cent), G4 (in 14 por cent), and G3 (in 5 por cent). Based on national data for Argentina, we estimate that in 1991 there were roughly 84500 rotavirus-associated outpatient visits (1 for every 8 births) and 21000 hospitalizations averaging 4 days in length (1 for every 31 births), all of which entailed direct medical costs estimated at US$ 27.7 million. These preliminary data show that the rotavirus disease burden in Argentine children is extensive and could be decreased by a safe and effective vaccine. Further surveillance is needed to improve our understanding of the epidemiology and distribution of rotavirus strains in Argentina, to more accurately asses the cost-effectiveness of a rotavirus vaccine program, and to indicate what methods might best be used to monitor such a program's impact

Rev Panam Salud Publica;3(2),feb. 1998

Infecções por Rotavirus; Rotavirus; Vacinas Virais; Estudos Epidemiológicos; Diarreia Infantil; Argentina

Gómez, Jorge A,Nates, Silvia,De Castagnaro, Nelda R,Espul, Carlos,Borsa, Ana,Glass, Roger I (1998) Anticipating rotavirus vaccines: review of epidemiologic studies of rotavirus diarrhea in Argentina. Rev Panam Salud Publica;3(2) -,feb. 1998. Retrieved from http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49891998000200001&lng=pt&nrm=iso