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Rotavirus gastroenteritis and its impact on the Australian healthcare system and on young children and their families are discussed based on a cross-sectional descriptive survey involving 280 children under three years of age presenting with acute diarrhea at an emergency department of a large-city children's hospital. Findings indicate rotavirus gastroenteritis has significant economic impact on young children, their families and the healthcare system and routine infant vaccination would potentially be cost-effective.

Rotavirus infection is very common; approximately 3 to 5 billion cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in 5 to 10 million deaths. Infection with rotavirus causes gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestine) and diarrhea, and rotavirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children. Viral gastroenteritis is recognized as a major cause of illness and death. Nonbacterial gastroenteritis is the second most common family disease in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control have estimated that, between 1979 and 1984, 209,000 children under 5 years of age were hospitalized with diarrhea in the US. It is estimated that two-thirds of these cases were caused by rotavirus infection. Hospital laboratory and medical records were used to determine the prevalence of gastroenteritis due to rotavirus between June 1979 and July 1989, at the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. The records revealed that, during the 10-year study period, 473 children were hospitalized because of rotavirus infection. These cases represented 1.5 million dollars per year in hospital bed costs, and 3 percent of all hospital days at this medical facility. Based on extrapolation, these results predict an annual hospitalization cost of 352 million dollars for infected children, and indicate that rotavirus infection is a major cause of illness among children in the US. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)