Objective To understand the epidemic characteristics of group A rotavirus in children with diarrhea under 5 years of age in Xiangfu district

and to provide scientific evidence for effective control of rotavirus infection. Methods Epidemio-logical information and stool samples were collected from children under 5 years of age who visited Xiangfu People’s Hospital due to diarrhea from 2015 to 2019. Rotavirus antigen was detected by colloidal gold-labeled double-antibody sandwich immu-nochromatography. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS（version 21.0）. Results A total of 3 921 group A rota-virus samples were detected in 13 011 samples

with a total positive rate of 30.14%. The annual detection rate showed a de-creasing trend year by year（χ~2=23.23

P<0.001）. The positive rate of boys was 30.98%（2 209/7 130）

which was higher than that of girls（29.11%

1 712/5 881）

and the difference was statistically significant（χ~2=5.36

P=0.021）. There was a significant difference in the positive rate of rotavirus infection among children in different age groups（χ~2=357.42

P<0.001）

with the highest positive rate in children aged over 2 but less than 3 years of age（37.90%）

followed by those aged over 1 year but less than 2 years of age（35.61%）

and the lowest positive rate in those aged less than 1 year of age（20.02%）. Group A rotavirus can be detected throughout the year

and its peak incidence is in autumn and winter

with the lowest incidence in August. Conclusion The infection rate of group A rotavirus in children under 5 years of age in Xiangfu district remains high

mainly occurring in autumn and winter. Corresponding prevention and control measures should be taken to effectively reduce the infection rate.