 Objectives: To describe the seroprevalence of rotavirus infection among children who were admitted with acute diarrhea to Al-Sabeen Hospital for Women and Children after the introduction of Rotavirus vaccine as part of the National Yemeni Immunization Program in Sana’a city, Yemen and to determine some risk factors for getting rotavirus infection.  Methods: It was a cross-sectional prospective study that conducted from January 2016 to November 2016 on children aged ≤ 5 years with acute watery diarrhea (≤14 days duration) and admitted for the treatment of gastroenteritis as a primary illness. The demographic and clinical data of the patients were collected according to a structured questionnaire. Four to eight grams of stool samples were collected from each participant and Rotavirus was detected by ELISA according to the manufacture instruction enclosed (ProSpecTTM RV Microplate Assay, Oxoid Ltd, UK).  Results: A total of 400 children were enrolled. Rotavirus infection was detected in 118 (29.5%) children. Among those children who infected with RV there were 60 (50.8%) vaccinated and 58 (49.2%) were unvaccinated.  Conclusions: Rotavirus infection is widespread among Yemeni children with diarrhea despite the introduction of the Rotavirus vaccine in the Yemeni National Program for Immunization in Sana’a city. The efficiency of the Rotavirus vaccine is questionable and further studies are needed to reveal the reasons of this low efficacy rate of the vaccine.

Keywords : Rotavirus, Vaccine, Yemen.