Epidemiology of childhood intussusception in Bangladesh: Findings from an active national hospital based surveillance system, 2012–2016

INTRODUCTION: Rotavirus vaccines have significantly decreased the burden of diarrheal diseases in countries that have introduced them into their immunization programs. In some studies, there has been a small association between rotavirus vaccines and intussusception in post-marketing surveillance, high-lighting the importance of tracking incidence before and after vaccine introduction. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of intussusception among Bangladeshi children pre-vaccine introduction. METHODS: We conducted active, hospital-based surveillance for intussusception at 7 tertiary care hospitals with pediatric surgical facilities during July 2012 to September 2016. Hospitalized children under 2 years of age were identified according to Brighton Collaboration level 1 criteria for intussusception. The frequency and proportion of intussusception among overall surgical admissions, as well as the demographic and clinical information of the cases is described. RESULTS: Overall 153 cases of intussusception among children <2 years-old were identified at participating sites over the enrolment period, confirmed by Level 1 Brighton criteria. These cases represented 2% of all surgical admissions under 2 years of age. One hundred twelve cases (73%) were male; the median age was 7 months; and the median duration of hospitalization was 7 days. One hundred forty-six (95%) children with intussusception required surgery, and 11 (7%) died. CONCLUSIONS: Confirmed cases of intussusception represented nearly 2% of pediatric surgical admissions at tertiary referral centers in Bangladesh during the study period and 7% of children with intussusception died. Given the high burden of rotavirus disease in Bangladesh, vaccine introduction is warranted, however, further studies after introduction of rotavirus vaccine are necessary to determine any association between vaccine and intussusception in this setting.