Mwanza children with acute diarrhoea now spend less time in hospitals: researchers

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At three hospitals in Mwanza region, the duration of hospital stay for children admitted due to acute diarrhoea has gone down, with researchers attributing the phenomenon to the introduction and implementation of rotarix vaccine programs in the country.

Mwanza. A study involving three health facilities in Mwanza region has found that the duration of hospital stay for children suffering from acute diarrhea has significantly been reduced in the last 5 years following the introduction of a vaccine against rotavirus, known as Rotarix.


Tanzania historically became the second country in Sub-Saharan Africa to launch the rotarix vaccine and including it in routine immunization programs for children. The vaccine has so far been introduced in 34 countries in the Africa region, says the World Health Organization (WHO).


Researchers at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (Cuhas) said in a study that the vaccine has worked to cut down hospital stay for children. However, they have called for further research and advocacy on other causes of diarrhoea.


The study, which was presented during the 10th Scientific Graduation Conference of Cuhas in Mwanza, shows that children who had been infected by rotavirus infection had significant shorter hospital stay than those with who weren’t infected by the same virus.


Dr Dina Mahamba, a children’s specialist at Cuhas, said that the rotarix vaccine which was introduced in Tanzania six years ago, has helped in combating certain strains of rotavirus, a bug that causes acute diarrhea in children in Tanzania and most other countries.


But, she noted, “There are still reported cases of acute diarrhoea because the rotarix vaccine does not target all strains of the rotavirus. That’s why we are suggesting that there should be more research on this.”


Dr Mahamba and eight other researchers from Cuhas, carried out the study involving 301 children who were admitted at the three hospitals due to acute diarrhoea but who also had also been vaccinated with the rotarix vaccine.


According to findings, the children who were infected with rotavirus stayed for 2 to 4 days at hospital while those who weren’t infected, with the same virus, stayed longer (for 3 to 5 days).
“This was specific for children infected with rotavirus. Diarrhea in children can be attributed to other causes.

For those whose diarrhea was caused by rotavirus and who were vaccinated with rotarix, we found that they were spending less duration at hospital,’’ said Dr Mahamba during a presentation on Thursday November 15.


It was a hospital-based study in which the recruited children, aged between 6 weeks to 2 years, were from Nyamagana District Hospital, Sekou-Toure Regional Referral Hospital and Bugando Medical Centre and it was conducted from July 2017 to January 2018.


“These findings support the ongoing immunization programme among children in Tanzania and other low-income countries where the virus is endemic,’’ says the study presented at the conference, themed: One Health Research at Bugando: Is our approach on the right track?


Rotavirus infection is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea, culminating into dehydration and prolonged hospitalization among children under the age of five.


The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the introduction of rotarix vaccine to prevent severe infection with rotavirus.


Before the introduction of rotarix or rotavirus vaccine (RV) the virus was known to cause fatal diarrhea in children, responsible for about 40 per cent of all mortality worldwide, says a 2018 Lancet report, titled: Rotavirus vaccine impact in Africa: greater than the sum of its parts?