Introduction Rotavirus infection is the leading cause of diarrhoea associated with significant morbidity and mortality among children < 5 years of age. We aimed to study the demographic and seasonal pattern of Rotavirus infection among hospitalised children <5 years.

Materials and methods A cross-sectional hospital based study was carried among Children with Acute Gastroenteritis (AGE) aged <5 years over 2 years period. A data extraction form was developed including demographic profile (age, gender, nationality), date of admission etc. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 20 software. Chi-square test and t-test were used to compare characteristics. P value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results 970 cases of AGE <5 years was admitted to Paediatric ward during the study period.

Rotavirus cases constituted 24.7% of the total AGE cases and 8.6% of the total paediatric admissions.

Male: female distribution in AGE cases 56% : 44%; similar gender ratio was noted in Rotavirus positive cases.

62% of these cases were <2 years in comparison to other AGE cases (p < 0.001).

The mean age of children with Rotavirus infection was 23.9 ± 14.6 months compared to 30.5 ± 18.8 months other AGE cases (p < 0.05).

Rota virus infection peaks were observed in the months of January, February, April and May.

The other AGE was noted to peak around May and November months.

15% of the cases were UAE nationals, rest expatriates.

Conclusion The common age group affected with Rotavirus infection noted in the present study are in line with other reports from the Middle East, however the seasonality observed varied from previous reports.