Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Significant rotavirus burden among African children
Seattle, September 1, 2010—A special supplement of the Journal of Infectious Diseases published today summarizes data that illustrate the tremendous burden of rotavirus disease throughout Africa.
The supplement, “Rotavirus Infection in Africa: Epidemiology, Burden of Disease, and Strain Diversity,” compiles data on disease burden and serotype distribution from 15 countries in the continent, in addition to data from countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Surveillance findings from several countries reveal a greater prevalence of rotavirus—the most common cause of severe childhood diarrhea—than previously reported.
Collating data across the continent, researchers found that 40 percent of childhood hospitalizations for acute diarrhea were caused by rotavirus.
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“According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), nearly half of all diarrheal deaths occur in low-income countries of Africa and, as these new data show, the region bears almost half the global rotavirus disease burden as well,” said Duncan Steele, senior advisor for diarrheal disease vaccines, PATH, who also served as a guest editor of the journal supplement.
“Increasing the availability of rotavirus vaccines where they are needed most, including countries throughout Africa, will be pivotal in improving child survival.”
Full article
thanks to https://twitter.com/floszcrxl
Seattle, September 1, 2010—A special supplement of the Journal of Infectious Diseases published today summarizes data that illustrate the tremendous burden of rotavirus disease throughout Africa.
The supplement, “Rotavirus Infection in Africa: Epidemiology, Burden of Disease, and Strain Diversity,” compiles data on disease burden and serotype distribution from 15 countries in the continent, in addition to data from countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region.
Surveillance findings from several countries reveal a greater prevalence of rotavirus—the most common cause of severe childhood diarrhea—than previously reported.
Collating data across the continent, researchers found that 40 percent of childhood hospitalizations for acute diarrhea were caused by rotavirus.
- snip -
“According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), nearly half of all diarrheal deaths occur in low-income countries of Africa and, as these new data show, the region bears almost half the global rotavirus disease burden as well,” said Duncan Steele, senior advisor for diarrheal disease vaccines, PATH, who also served as a guest editor of the journal supplement.
“Increasing the availability of rotavirus vaccines where they are needed most, including countries throughout Africa, will be pivotal in improving child survival.”
Full article
thanks to https://twitter.com/floszcrxl