Norovirus in under 5 Children in Nigeria: History, Current Epidemiology and Future Trends

Diarrhea is a principal cause of mortality in children, particularly those underthe age of 5 years. Globally, roughly 444, 382 children die yearly due to acutegastroenteritis. Human noroviruses are the dominant cause of gastroenteritisin children under 5, killing 200,000 yearly out of 677 million cases. In Nigeria,the real burden of human noroviruses remains unknown due to inadequateresearch. In this regard, we conducted a narrative analysis of past works onhuman noroviruses in children from 2010 to 2023. We discovered a prevalencerate of human norovirus- associated gastroenteritis ranged from 3.6% to37.6% and an average prevalence rate of 11%. We found out Lagos had themaximum seroprevalence rate of 37.6% between 2010 and 2013, and Kano hadthe third highest prevalence of 21%. We ascribed the high seroprevalence rateof human norovirus infections in Lagos and Kano to high population densityand the concomitant overstretching of WASH facilities. We acknowledgethe overarching sequelae of poverty to the causation of acute gastroenteritisin resource-mismanaged climes such as Nigeria. Hence, we claim that oneout of ten children of under-5 age are prone to human norovirus-associatedgastroenteritis in Nigeria. A study of this caliber exposes the threat of humannorovirus infections in Nigeria. It reinforces the call for heightened communityeducation, prompt management, and enhanced government intervention inthe fight against acute gastroenteritis in under 5 children including human-norovirus associated gastroenteritis.