Abstract
Acute gastrointestinal illnesses are amongst the most common diseases worldwide: ranging from mild annoyances to devastating, dehydrating illnesses that can kill within hours. Although acute gastroenteritis is a common illness in all seasons, it definitely shows change in the number of cases at different times of the year. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a Government Medical College and Hospital in Maharashtra, India. The gastroenteritis patients who were admitted to this hospital during the study period of 1 calendar year from April 2006 to March 2007 were studied. The hospital records of the previous 2 calendar years from April 2004 to March 2006 were also studied to know the changing patterns in the acute gastroenteritis cases. During April 2004 to March 2007, the average monthly admissions due to gastroenteritis were 48. Gastroenteritis resulted in 1.92% (i.e. 685 out of 35644) of the total hospital admissions. Contrary to the regular belief that gastroenteritis is more common during rainy season and early parts of summer, in present study as well as in various other studies it was found that, the number of cases was more during winter.

Key words: Acute gastroenteritis, Seasonal patterns, Diarrhoea