Effects of masks, social distancing and general hygiene recommendations on rotavirus gastroenteritis in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Aim: Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is one of the important causes of mortality and morbidity for children worldwide, especially in developing countries. Rotavirus is transmitted by the feces of the people carrying it through food and hands. Additionally, door handles, telephones, sockets, and toys may play a role in spreading the infection. In addition to fecal-oral transmission, transmission via droplets has also been reported. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of rotavirus in pediatric acute gastroenteritis cases in our institution and reveal the effect of the increased mask, social distancing and general hygiene recommendations with COVID-19 pandemic on rotavirus gastroenteritis. Methods: A total of 4781 patients aged 0-18 diagnosed with AGE between January 2019 and December 2020 were included in the study. The rotavirus positivity of patients diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis before and after the pandemic was statistically compared according to season, gender, and age variables. Results: Four hundred nine (8.6%) of 4781 patients were determined as rotavirus positive. The frequency of rotavirus in the age range of 0-2 was higher than that of in the other age ranges. Rotavirus is more common in the winter and spring seasons. In the modeling performed for patients with AGE in our hospital, provided that the other variables remained constant, the risk of rotavirus positivity increased by 1.14 times with the season variable while it decreased by 0.66 times with age. It was concluded that as the age increased, the odds value of being rotavirus positive decreased by 33.4%. While the prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis was 7.5% between March 2019 and December 2019, this frequency decreased to 4.7% with the pandemic (March 2020-December 2020), which was statistically significant (X2=8.620; p=0.003). Conclusion: Increasing masks, social distancing and general hygiene recommendations due to COVID 19 have led to a decrease in the frequency of rotavirus infections in children.