Prevalence of Rotavirus-Associated Acute Gastroenteritis Cases in Early Childhood in Turkey: Meta-Analysis

Background: Rotavirus is globally the most common viral pathogen in childhood gastroenteritis. This study aimed to estimate the number of Turkish children suffering from early-childhood gastroenteritis by rotavirus by performing a meta-analysis. Methods: Meta-analysis following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was performed. Following the guidelines, primary studies were found reporting the prevalence of rotavirus gastroenteritis in Turkey. We performed a computerized search of published studies in national and international databases from 1990 to 2018. We selected 38 out of 721 studies for our study. Meta-analysis was carried out using R statistical software. The Cochrane Q statistic was calculated to assess the heterogeneity of the study results. Heterogeneity among studies was evaluated using the I(2) statistic. Effect-size estimate was reported with 95% confidence interval. Results: On the basis of 38 selected articles, 80,113 children up to five years of age were diagnosed with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis, of whom the stool samples of 13,651 children were positive for rotavirus. The pooled prevalence of rotavirus was 19% in children younger than five years of age with acute gastroenteritis. In terms of seasonal prevalence, the highest prevalence rate was found in winter. Conclusion: This study supports the major prevalence of early-childhood gastroenteritis by rotavirus among Turkish children. Therefore, the decision to adopt immunization programs to prevent rotavirus infection might be helpful in Turkey.