ROTEVIRUS INFECTION IN CHILDREN

Abstract Rotavirus infection (RVI) considered one of the most common infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in children, is an acute infectious disease with high contagiousness, characterized mainly by damage to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in the form of gastroenteritis, accompanied by the development of symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration and symptoms of general intoxication, as well as respiratory (catarrhal) syndrome in the initial period of the disease. Rotavirus infection (RVI) is considered one of the most common infectious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in children. This disease, caused by rotaviruses and having the code A08.0 in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) ("Rotavirus enteritis"), occurs mainly in children under 5 years of age, which is explained by the fact that their hygiene habits have not yet been formed and they have low immunity. Vomiting, diarrhea and high temperature, the main symptoms of the disease, lead to pathological loss of water and salts from the body in a short time, in other words, to dehydration of the body, which is considered more dangerous, which can lead to the development of various complications and even death. In 45-50% of cases, RVI can be found with other pathogens, such as norovirus, astrovirus, and in rare cases- as a mixed infection (rotavirus + salmonellosis). As mentioned above, rotavirus infection (RVI) remains one of the main causes of gastroenteritis in children under 5 years of age. Thus, more than 100 million acute intestinal infections (AII) associated with RVI are registered annually in the world. Due to the mild form of the disease in most patients and the elimination of symptoms at home, the etiology of the disease sometimes remains unclear. However, despite the latest advances in medicine, 600,000 or more deaths from RVI are registered annually [1,2]. Such a high mortality rate in RVI, especially mixed infections, is due not only to acute dehydration, but also pneumonia, meningitis, myocarditis, etc. This may be associated with extraintestinal complications. [2, 3]. According to some data, up to 10% of examined patients have signs of systemic damage to the pancreas, kidneys, liver, central nervous system, heart, lungs and blood vessels in RVI [1, 2, 5]. It is clear that the frequency of such complications may vary depending on the strain of rotavirus, the characteristics of the immune system and the adequacy of therapy.