Rotavirus infection is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among the infants and children. It affets about 120 million individual annually causing death of 600,000-650,000. It occurs more in the winter. It affects the children more than the adults. It is more in the developing countries. There is no race predilection.

• Rotavirus infections affect about 120 million individual per year, causing the death of 600,000 – 650,000.
• Rotavirus is endemic worldwide. It is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and children, being responsible for about 20% of cases, and accounts for about half of the cases requiring hospitalization. Almost every child has been infected with rotavirus by age 5.
• Over 3 million cases of rotavirus gastroenteritis occur annually in the U.S.
• In temperate areas, it occurs primarily in the winter, but in the tropics it occurs throughout the year. The number attributable to food contamination is unknown.

Humans of all ages are susceptible to rotavirus infection. Children 6 months to 2 years of age, premature infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised are particularly susceptible to more severe symptoms caused by infection with group A rotavirus.

There is no racial predilection for rotavirus infection.

Rotavirus infections are more prevelant in the developing countries more than the developed countries.^[1]