This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (84)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Results of a 5-Year Retrospective Survey of 88 Centers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States

Charles W. LeBaron, MD; Judy Lew, MD; Roger I. Glass, MD, PhD; John M. Weber, PhD; Guillermo M. Ruiz-Palacios, MD; Rotavirus Study Group

JAMA. 1990;264(8):983-988.

Abstract
Rotavirus is the major cause of severe diarrhea in children. A recent study of hospitalizations for diarrhea in the United States suggested that the annual rotavirus epidemic may follow a regional sequence from west to east. As part of a program to establish active surveillance of rotavirus prior to the introduction of vaccines, we obtained 5 years of retrospective data on rotavirus detections from 88 centers throughout North America. Analysis of 34 644 detections indicates that the peak of the annual rotavirus epidemic occurs first in Mexico and the Southwest of the United States in late fall, goes systematically across the continent in the winter, and ends in the Northeast United States and the Maritime Provinces of Canada in the spring. When detections are grouped by region, onset of the epidemic follows the same regional sequence as the peak. To our knowledge, this is the only description of a repetitive geographic sequence for the seasonal epidemic activity of a viral agent. Further studies are indicated to determine whether climate, features of the virus itself, or other factors are responsible for this apparently unique pattern. A system of active surveillance can use this pattern to detect natural alterations in the epidemic behavior of rotavirus and to assess the impact of vaccines.

(JAMA. 1990;264:983-988)

Author Affiliations
From the Viral Gastroenteritis Unit, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga (Drs LeBaron, Lew, and Glass); the Bureau of Microbiology, Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Ottawa, Ontario (Dr Weber); and the Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion, Mexico City, Mexico (Dr Ruiz-Palacios). See the acknowledgments for a list of the members of the Rotavirus Study Group.

Footnotes
Presented at the 29th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Houston, Tex, September 18, 1989.

Reprint requests to Viral Gastroenteritis Unit (G-04), Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA 30333 (Dr LeBaron).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Demographic Variability, Vaccination, and the Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Rotavirus Epidemics
Pitzer et al.
Science 2009;325:290-294.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Active, Population-Based Surveillance for Severe Rotavirus Gastroenteritis in Children in the United States
Payne et al.
Pediatrics 2008;122:1235-1243.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevention of Rotavirus Disease: Guidelines for Use of Rotavirus Vaccine
Committee on Infectious Diseases
Pediatrics 2007;119:171-182.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Safety and Efficacy of a Pentavalent Human-Bovine (WC3) Reassortant Rotavirus Vaccine
Vesikari et al.
NEJM 2006;354:23-33.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Rotavirus Vaccine and the News Media, 1987-2001
Danovaro-Holliday et al.
JAMA 2002;287:1455-1462.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Group A Rotavirus Infection and Age-Dependent Diarrheal Disease in Rats: a New Animal Model To Study the Pathophysiology of Rotavirus Infection
Ciarlet et al.
J. Virol. 2002;76:41-57.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A prospective evaluation of community acquired gastroenteritis in paediatric practices: impact and disease burden of rotavirus infection
Frühwirth et al.
Arch. Dis. Child. 2001;84:393-397.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Detection and Characterization of Novel Rotavirus Strains in the United States
Gouvea et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 1999;37:2385-2386.
FULL TEXT  

Perinatal Risk Factors for Infant Hospitalization With Viral Gastroenteritis
Newman et al.
Pediatrics 1999;103:e3-3.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Trends in Diarrhea-associated Hospitalizations Among American Indian and Alaska Native Children, 1980-1995
Holman et al.
Pediatrics 1999;103:e11-11.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevention of Rotavirus Disease: Guidelines for Use of Rotavirus Vaccine
Committee on Infectious Diseases
Pediatrics 1998;102:1483-1491.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Development of a Fluorescent Focus Identification Assay Using Serotype-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies for Detection and Quantitation of Rotaviruses in a Tetravalent Rotavirus Vaccine
Yang et al.
CVI 1998;5:780-783.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Subunit Rotavirus Vaccine Administered Parenterally to Rabbits Induces Active Protective Immunity
Ciarlet et al.
J. Virol. 1998;72:9233-9246.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevalence of Astroviruses in a Children's Hospital
Shastri et al.
J. Clin. Microbiol. 1998;36:2571-2574.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Trends of Diarrheal Disease--Associated Mortality in US Children, 1968 Through 1991
Kilgore et al.
JAMA 1995;274:1143-1148.
ABSTRACT  

Economic Impact of Immunization Against Rotavirus Gastroenteritis: Evidence From a Clinical Trial
Griffiths et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 1995;149:407-414.
ABSTRACT  

Diarrheal Deaths in the United States, 1979 Through 1987: A Special Problem for the Elderly
Lew et al.
JAMA 1991;265:3280-3284.
ABSTRACT  

Rotavirus Surveillance--United States, 1989-1990
JAMA 1991;265:959-960.