Title: - Prevalence of Rota Virus and Associated Risk factors among Under Five Children withrnGastroenteritis in selected health facilities of Addis Ababa, EthiopiarnBackground: - Rota virus, the most common cause of severe gastroenteritis, is responsible for 2rnmillion hospitalizations and 600,000 deaths among children under five years worldwide annually.rnMore than 85% of these deaths occur in low resource countries. Ethiopia is one of the five countriesrnwith the greatest rotavirus burden worldwide and accounts for 6% of all rotavirus deaths globally.rnObjective: - The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of rota virus andrnassociated risk factors among under five children with gastroenteritis in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.rnMethods: - A cross-sectional, hospital based prospective study was conducted from January â€“rnMarch 2014. A total of 246 children with gastroenteritis were consecutively selected. Appropriaternamount of stool specimen was collected and investigated for rota virus by using EIA method. Carerngivers were interviewed using structured and pre-validated questionnaire. Data was entered in tornEpi Info version 3.5.4 and analyzed using SPSS version 20 software.rnResult: - Among a total of 246 children, 127(51.6%) were males and the mean age of children wasrn28.5 months. One hundred thirty nine (56.5%) feed on solid food; however, 4.1% were on exclusivernbreast feeding. Regarding the clinical features, 54.1% had vomiting, 66.3% abdominal pain, andrn19.1% were with tenesmus. Most of, 98% used piped water and 98.4% had good hand washingrnpractice. Eighty five (34.6%) children were infected by rota virus, 31.3% by bacteria, and 26.4%rnby protozoa parasite. The most frequently isolated entro-bacterial pathogen was E. coli, andrnEnteamoaba was the most common parasite identified by direct microscopy. Rota virus infectionrnwas not significantly associated with any potential factors. Therefore, there was no an independentrnpredictor of rota virus infection.rnConclusion: - The prevalence of rota virus was high among under five children with acuterngastroenteritis in selected health facilities of Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Therefore early agernvaccination and good hygiene keeping should be considered and be expanded as one importantrnmeans of prevention for rota virus diarrhea. Large scale survey should be conducted in all regionsrnto know the actual rota virus diarrhea burden and vaccine efficacy throughout the country.