Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2009 Dec;38(6):1487-96.
doi: 10.1093/ije/dyn260. Epub 2008 Dec 4.

Seasonality of rotavirus disease in the tropics: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Karen Levy  1 , Alan E Hubbard, Joseph N S Eisenberg
Affiliations
Review

Seasonality of rotavirus disease in the tropics: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Karen Levy et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Background: To date little conclusive evidence exists on the seasonality of rotavirus incidence in the tropics. We present a systematic review and meta-analysis on the seasonal epidemiology of rotavirus in the tropics, including 26 studies reporting continuous monthly rotavirus incidence for which corresponding climatological data was available.

Methods: Using linear regression models that account for serial correlation between months, monthly rotavirus incidence was significantly negatively correlated with temperature, rainfall and relative humidity in 65%, 55% and 60% of studies, respectively. We carried out pooled analyses using a generalized estimating equation (GEE) that accounts for correlation from between-study variation and serial correlation between months within a given study.

Results: For every 1 degrees C (1.8 degrees F) increase in mean temperature, 1 cm (0.39 in.) increase in mean monthly rainfall, and 1% increase in relative humidity (22%) this analysis showed reductions in rotavirus incidence of 10% (95% CI: 6-13%), 1% (95% CI: 0-1%), and 3% (95% CI:0-5%), respectively.

Conclusions: On the basis of the evidence, we conclude that rotavirus responds to changes in climate in the tropics, with the highest number of infections found at the colder and drier times of the year.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Heterogeneity plots of incidence rate ratios (IRR), showing 95% confidence intervals using Newey West standard errors, for regressions of rotavirus incidence vs: (A) monthly mean temperature (°C); (B) monthly rainfall (cm); and (C) relative humidity (%). The pooled effect from the generalized estimated equation (GEE) analysis is also shown
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Parashar UD, Gibson CJ, Bresee JS, Glass RI. Rotavirus and severe childhood diarrhoea. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12:304–6. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cook SM, Glass RI, LeBaron CW, Ho MS. Global seasonality of rotavirus infections. Bull World Health Organ. 1990;68:171–77. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parashar UD, Hummelman EG, Bresee JS, Miller MA, Glass RI. Global illness and deaths caused by rotavirus disease in children. Emerg Infect Dis. 2003;9:565–72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cunliffe NA, Kilgore PE, Bresee JS, et al. Epidemiology of rotavirus diarrhoea in Africa: a review to assess the need for rotavirus immunization. Bull World Health Organ. 1998;76:525–37. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parashar UD, Bresee JS, Gentsch JR, Glass RI. Rotavirus. Emerg Infect Dis. 1998;4:561–70. - PMC - PubMed