Absence of rotavirus in the neonatal special care nursery of a Malaysian maternity hospital

The pattern of rotavirus infection in babies of the neonatal special care nursery (SCN) of the Kuala Lumpur Maternity Hospital was studied. The presence of rotavirus in the neonates' stools was ascertained using the method of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining. No rotavirus was detected in the 511 stools and rectal swabs collected from the 164 neonates over a 8-week period. Thus the babies admitted to the SCN from the labour rooms and the postnatal wards of the hospital were unlikely to be carriers of rotavirus or infected by rotavirus during their stay. It was concluded that rotavirus was not endemic in the nursery or the postnatal wards of this maternity hospital.