An estimate of the proportion of diarrhoeal disease episodes seen by general practitioners attributable to rotavirus in children under 5 y of age in England and Wales

Mean weekly incidence rates for a 4-week period of new episodes of infectio us intestinal disease (IID) and laboratory reports of faecal isolations in children under 5 y of age presenting in general practice were used to estim ate the incidence of IID due to rotavirus infection in England and Wales. B etween January 1992 and December 1996, a total of 92452 new episodes of IID were seen at sentinel general practices and reported to the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research Unit in Birmingham, UK. Of these 3 2% (29 592) were in children under 5 y of age. During the same period the C ommunicable Disease Surveillance Centre (CDSC) in London, UK received 159 5 32 reports of faecal identifications in children under 5 y of age; 69 219 ( 43%) of these were due to rotavirus. By modelling RCGP data and laboratory reports, the proportion of episodes attributable to rotavirus infection was estimated to be 29% (95% CI: 24% to 34%). By extrapolation of RCGP data it was estimated that rotavirus accounted for 762 000 of new episodes of IID nationally in children under 5 y of age between January 1992 and December 1 996. Implementation of a rotavirus vaccination programme could substantiall y reduce the incidence of childhood diarrhoea.