Hospital-based surveillance for rotavirus diarrhea in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, April 2009 through March 2016

Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of illness and death in young children in the world, especially the developing countries. Diarrheal disease results in about half a million childhood death per year, ranking second among all causes worldwide. Diarrheal disease due to rotavirus infection is currently the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide. Rotavirus immunization of infants is a safe and effective public health intervention for rotavirus infection control and expected to lead to a reduction of childhood morbidity and mortality. We conducted hospital-based surveillance at two representative hospitals in Mongolia to estimate the burden of hospitalizations for rotavirus diarrhea among children aged