Determining the Factors in Acute Gastroenteritis

Objective: The study aims to give information about the sociodemographic characteristics and the gastroenteritis agents detected in the patients hospitalized in the pediatric service with the diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis. Methods: The patients hospitalized in the pediatric service diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis were investigated by age, gender, place of residence, season of arrival, duration of hospitalization, and gastroenteritis factors. Results: Out of a total of 328 patients, 126 (38.4%) were girls and 202 (61.6%) were boys. The average age was 43.3 months; the average length of stay in the hospital was 4.75 days. A total of 118 (35.9%) of the patients were in the age group of 2-23 months, 139 (42.3%) of them were 24-71 months old, and 71 (21.6%) of them were over 6 years old (P = .001). The average number of days of hospitalization is 5 days (P = .001) in the preschool period; the seasons with the most hospitalization were summer and spring. The majority of patients lived in urban areas. In a total of 230 (70.1%) patients, the factors that could cause gastroenteritis were not detected; the agent was rotavirus in 56 (57.1%) of the 98 patients which was found to be causative. Conclusion: Among children hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis, younger children have a longer hospital stay. The most common infectious agent of acute gastroenteritis is rotavirus. Including the rotavirus vaccine in the national vaccination program in our coun- try may be beneficial in preventing the rotavirus. A stool test may guide the diagnosis.