Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Rotavirus infection is a major cause of mortality among children under 5 years in Bangladesh. There is lack of integrated studies on rotavirus prevalence and genetic diversity during 1973 to 2023 in Bangladesh. METHODS: This meta-analysis was conducted to determine the prevalence, genotypic diversity and seasonal distribution of rotavirus during pre-vaccination period in Bangladesh. This study included published articles on rotavirus A, rotavirus B and rotavirus C. We used Medline, Scopus and Google Scholar for published articles. Selected literatures were published between 1973 to 2023. RESULTS: This study detected 12431 research articles published on rotavirus. Based on the inclusion criteria, 29 of 75 (30.2%) studies were selected. Molecular epidemiological data was taken from 29 articles, prevalence data from 29 articles, and clinical symptoms from 19 articles. The pooled prevalence of rotavirus was 30.1% (95% CI: 22%-45%, p = 0.005). Rotavirus G1 (27.1%, 2228 of 8219) was the most prevalent followed by G2 (21.09%, 1733 of 8219), G4 (11.58%, 952 of 8219), G9 (9.37%, 770 of 8219), G12 (8.48%, 697 of 8219), and G3 (2.79%, 229 of 8219), respectively. Genotype P[8] (40.6%, 2548 of 6274) was the most prevalent followed by P[4] (12.4%, 777 of 6274) and P[6] (6.4%, 400 of 6274), respectively. Rotavirus G1P[8] (19%) was the most frequent followed by G2P [4] (9.4%), G12P[8] (7.2%), and G9P[8], respectively. Rotavirus infection had higher odds of occurrence during December and February (aOR: 2.86, 95% CI: 2.43-3.6, p = 0.001). DISCUSSION: This is the first meta-analysis including all the studies on prevalence, molecular epidemiology, and genetic diversity of rotavirus from 1973 to 2023, pre-vaccination period in Bangladesh. This study will provide overall scenario of rotavirus genetic diversity and seasonality during pre-vaccination period and aids in policy making for rotavirus vaccination program in Bangladesh. This work will add valuable knowledge for vaccination against rotavirus and compare the data after starting vaccination in Bangladesh.