Background: Acute viral gastroenteritis (AVG) still has an impact on children under 5 years old in developing countries. In Romania, vaccination against Rotavirus is not included in the National Immunization Program. Children from poor social backgrounds represent 48% of the patients hospitalized in Children’s Clinical Hospital of Brasov. The use of antibiotics in Romania is high. Methods: The retrospective study enrolled 1054 children, 0–48 months of age, hospitalized in the Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children Brasov between January 2022–December 2023, for Rotavirus, Adenovirus or Norovirus acute gastroenteritis. Children presenting nosocomial infections were excluded. All children that have met the previously mentioned criteria, presenting positive stool samples (immunochromatography method) for Rotavirus, Adenovirus or Norovirus were included in the study. Results: Out of 1054 cases of AVG 782 (74.2%) were due to Rotavirus, 196 (18.5%) to Adenovirus and 76 (7.3%) to Norovirus. A total of 477 (45.3%) patients came from poor social backgrounds and 577 (54.7%) children from good social backgrounds. Rotavirus infection was equally prevalent in both groups (p < 0.35). Children from poor social backgrounds presented an average age of 11 months (SD ± 9; range 14 days–48 months) and a hospitalization average of 5.86 days (SD ± 3.67; range 1–22 days) compared to the others, who presented an average of 21 months (SD ± 15; range 26 days–48 months) and hospitalization average of 5.20 days (SD ± 2.51; range 1–18 days) (p < 0.01; p < 0.01). Severe dehydration presented 267 children from poor settings (56%) and 186 (17.6%) received antibiotics, compared to the other group—224 children (38.8%) with severe dehydration and 216 (20.4%) receiving antibiotics. The most used antibiotic for both groups was Ceftriaxone (53.9% and 57.6% of all AVG). Conclusions: Rotavirus is the leading AVG cause. Children from poor backgrounds were younger, more dehydrated, hospitalized longer.

Background/Objectives: Viral gastroenteritis leads to a broad range of hospitalization costs globally in children, depending on the region. To our knowledge, no recent studies have examined the hospitalization cost associated with viral gastroenteritis in Romania. The aim of this study is to determine the direct hospitalization cost of community-acquired viral gastroenteritis (rotavirus, adenovirus and norovirus) in children admitted to Children’s Clinical Hospital of Brașov, Romania, for one year. Methods: All children aged 0–60 months hospitalized for a stool sample positive for rotavirus, adenovirus or norovirus during January 2023 and December 2023 were included in this study. Hospital-acquired gastroenteritis, gastrointestinal coinfections or children with acute coinfection were excluded. The stool specimens were tested using the immunochromatography method. Results: Out of the total of 282 children, 218 children presented rotavirus gastroenteritis, 35 children presented adenovirus gastroenteritis and 29 children presented norovirus gastroenteritis. Regarding patient characteristics, a higher proportion of boys than girls was observed in all three comparison groups, the average age for children with rotavirus was 22.2 months vs. norovirus and adenovirus, and children presented an average age of 16.4 months. Average hospitalization length of stay for rotavirus was 4.64 (±1.95) days, for adenovirus it was 4.54 (±1.52) days and for norovirus it was 4.75 (±1.93) days. Direct hospitalization costs did not differ between rotavirus, adenovirus, and norovirus infections (Kruskal–Wallis H(2) = 0.145, p = 0.930). Conclusions: In this single-center study, rotavirus remained the most frequent cause of viral gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization in young children, followed by adenovirus and norovirus. Although the average length of stay was similar across groups, hospitalization costs varied, with rotavirus-associated cases showing the highest mean expenses and widest cost variability.