Incidence of Rotavirus in Diarrhoeic Children Under Five at Sokoto Specialist Hospital

Rotavirus is the leading aetiological agent of acute gastroenteritis in children under five worldwide, yet its burden in North West Nigerian healthcare settings remains insufficiently documented to guide vaccination and case management policy. This study determines the incidence of rotavirus infection in diarrhoeic children under five attending Sokoto Specialist Hospital, Sokoto State, North West Nigeria. Stool samples were collected from 120 children presenting with acute diarrhoea over a six-month period spanning both dry and rainy seasons. Rotavirus antigen was detected by ELISA using a commercial rotavirus antigen detection kit, and positive samples were further typed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to identify G and P genotypes. Rotavirus was detected in 34.2 percent of diarrhoea cases, with peak incidence in the dry cool season. G1P[8] was the most prevalent genotype (41 percent of positive samples), followed by G3P[8] (22 percent) and G2P[4] (17 percent). Children aged 6 to 23 months had the highest rotavirus incidence. Severe dehydration was significantly more common in rotavirus-positive cases. The study underlines the importance of rotavirus vaccination scale-up in Sokoto State, given the substantial disease burden and genotype diversity. Recommendations include integration of rotavirus testing into routine diarrhoea case management and strengthening of the childhood vaccination programme in collaboration with the Sokoto State Primary Health Care Development Agency. Keywords: rotavirus, childhood diarrhoea, genotype, Sokoto State, gastroenteritis