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[Frequency and clinical characteristics of rotavirus acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years of age treated in community practice in France].

OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this study was to determine the proportion of cases of gastro-enteritis due to rotavirus in children under 5 years of age consulting community physicians. A secondary objective was to compare the clinical characteristics of children with and without rotavirus acute gastro-enteritis (RV AGE).


METHODS
Multicentre, prospective, observational study conducted between December 2005 and May 2006. Each practitioner included 10 consecutive patients presenting with acute gastro-enteritis (AGE).


RESULTS
601 community practitioners, chiefly paediatricians (74.7%), included 5,062 children, 4,383 (86.6%) of whom were evaluable for analysis. The children's median age was 14 months. A rapid detection test (VIKIA((R)) Rota-Adeno - Laboratoires Biomérieux) was performed in 4,178 (95.3%) children and was rotavirus-positive in 43.7% of cases. More than 85% of children presenting with RV AGE were more than 6 months old. The difference between the severity scores of children in whom a rotavirus was detected and those in whom it was not detected was statistically significant (P<0.0001). Rotavirus AGE was significantly different (P<0.0001) from rotavirus-negative AGE in respect of vomiting (78.3% vs 51.0%), fever (76.0 vs 49.4%), weight loss (69.0 vs 43.2%), presence of signs of dehydratation (15.6 vs 3.7%) and behavioural disorders (44.4 vs 36.2%). Hospitalisation was proposed in 5.1% of cases (9.1 vs 1.8%; P<0.0001).


CONCLUSION
In this population of children under 5 years of age treated on an outpatient basis, the rapid detection test revealed the presence of rotavirus in 43.7% of cases. RV AGE appears to be significantly more severe and more often hospitalised.