It accounted for close to 40 per cent of GE-related hospitalisations in Singapore.
This finding was revealed in a local hospital-based study led by Professor Phua Kong Boo.
He's a senior consultant with the Gastroenterology Service at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
The study looked at nearly 2,000 children younger than five who were hospitalised for GE, between September 2005 and April 2008.
Other causes of GE-related hospitalisations included viruses such as the norovirus, and occasionally bacteria such as salmonella, and E coli.
Rotavirus infection can cause severe diarrhoea with watery stools, vomiting, fever, and is often accompanied by abdominal pains and refusal to eat.
The fluid loss raises the risk of severe dehydration and hospitalisation.
The study found that over 60 per cent of children hospitalised due to rotavirus eventually need an intravenous drip for rehydration.
A second focused study in KKH in February last year, which assessed parents' awareness and perception about rotavirus and its prevention, indicated that up to 40 per cent of parents had never heard of the virus.
Of the 54 per cent who've heard of the rotavirus, less than half had their children immunised against it.
Rotavirus infection spreads mainly through the oral-faecal route, and can affect caregivers as well.
- CNA/cc
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