%0 Journal Article
%T Reduction of hospitalizations with diarrhea among children aged 0-5 years in Nouakchott, Mauritania, following the introduction of rotavirus vaccine.
%A Ahmed MC
%A Heukelbach J
%A Weddih A
%A Filali-Maltouf A
%A Sidatt M
%A Makhalla K
%A Dahdi S
%A Cheikh Ahmed AC
%A El-Mami MV
%A Tate JE
%A Parashar UD
%A Benhafid M
%J Vaccine
%V 37
%N 11
%D 03 2019 7
%M 30765173
%F 4.169
%R 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.01.078
%X Rotavirus vaccine was introduced in Mauritania in December 2014. We investigated hospitalizations with diarrhea during pre and post-vaccination periods among children aged 0-5 years in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania.<BR>We conducted a retrospective review of hospital admission registries from November 1st 2012 through October 31th 2017 at all referral hospitals in Nouakchott. We described admissions of children aged 0-5 years by diagnosis, data of admission, age and sex, and compared the proportion of all childhood hospitalizations with diarrhea before and after rotavirus vaccine introduction.<BR>In total, 6552 (19%) of all 34,329 hospitalizations in 0-5 year-olds had diarrhea. Of these, 3523/16,952 (20.7%) were recorded during the pre-vaccine period, 1373/6897 (19.9%) during the transition period (November 2014-October 2015), and 1656/10,480 (15.8%) during the post-vaccination period. The proportion of all childhood hospitalizations with diarrhea during the pre-vaccine period was 22.6% among males and 18.7% among females. Approximately one third (32.3%) of hospitalizations with diarrhea occurred in children aged 6-11 months. During the post-vaccination period, the proportion of hospitalizations with diarrhea declined by 24%, and the highest reduction (74%) was observed in children aged 2 to 5 years (P < 0.001).<BR>The proportion of childhood hospitalizations with diarrhea in Nouakchott was reduced by about one fourth after introduction of rotavirus vaccination in Mauritania, indicating a major impact for public health for children in the capital city.