Abstract
Background: Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis due to severe diarrhea and related hospitalizations and infant deaths, especially in the infant stage in both developed and developing countries. The aim of this study is to retrospectively determine the frequency, seasonal distribution and nutritional relationship of rotavirus in infants who were admitted to our hospital with the diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis.
Material and Method: 383 infants who were admitted to the hospital between October 2016 and March 2018 with the diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis and examined for rotavirus antigen in feces.
Results: The average age of 383 infants taken to study is 8.2 months. 41.8% of the patients were female (n:160) and 58.2% were male (n:223). When stool specimens were examined, 33.68% (n:129) rotavirus antigens were detected in 383 cases. Of these 129 cases in whom rotavirus antigen was detected, 41.9% were female (n:54) and 58.1% were male (n:75).
Discussion: We think that rotavirus should be kept in mind as an agent of acute diarrhea especially in winter and spring in infants. Thus unnecessary and costly investigations and treatments can be prevented. Additionally, breastfeeding only in the first 180 days will reduce the frequency of rotavirus diarrhea in the infant period.
Keywords: Breastfeeding, complementary nutrition, infant, rotavirus

Key words: Breastfeeding, complementary nutrition, infant, rotavirus