User:Colin/Rotaviral enteritis
Medical condition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rotaviral enteritis, is the leading severe diarrhoeal disease of infants and young children, affecting nearly every child at least once by the age of five.[1] It is caused by rotavirus, a genus of double-stranded RNA virus in the taxonomic family Reoviridae. Rotavirus infects cells that line the small intestine, and produces an enterotoxin. The toxin causes gastroenteritis with severe diarrhoea and potentially fatal dehydration.
Colin/Rotaviral enteritis |
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There are seven species of rotavirus, referred to as A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Rotavirus A, which is responsible for more than 90% of rotaviral infections in humans, is further subdivided into strains called serotypes.[2] Although rotavirus was discovered in 1973,[3] and is now known to account for up to 50% of infants and children hospitalised with severe diarrhoea,[4] the importance of rotavirus is not widely recognised within the public health community, particularly in developing countries.[5]
Rotaviral enteritis is spread by the fecal–oral route; large numbers of rotavirus are excreted by infected people. With each infection, immunity develops and subsequent infections are less severe.[6] Public health campaigns to reduce morbidity and mortality from rotaviral enteritis focus on the benefits of oral rehydration therapy and vaccination.[7]
In developing countries, rotaviral enteritis has been estimated to result in an average of 611,000 deaths each year in children under five years of age, [8] and almost two million hospitalisations.[5] In the United States each year there are an estimated 2.7 million cases of severe rotaviral enteritis in children, resulting in almost 60,000 hospitalisations, and around 37 deaths.[9] Rotaviral enteritis is also an important veterinary disease; as with humans, young animals are most susceptible.[10]