Epidemiology of Rotavirus A in Nigeria: Molecular Diversity and Current Insights

Abstract

Rotavirus induced acute gastroenteritis AGE has been a major disease burden in Nigeria, since it was first reported in 1985. Prevalence rates have increased with severe public health consequences particularly among children. The vaccine Rotarix® has been introduced and is commercially available in Nigeria. However routine rotavirus vaccination is yet to be introduced into the National Immunization Program. Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus in Nigeria has shown the presence of various genotypes, with genotype G12P[8] being the most recent introduction. There are however gaps in molecular data on rotavirus in Nigeria. We therefore reviewed molecular data on rotavirus isolated in Nigeria and also analyzed VP4 and VP7 genes of Nigerian rotavirus strains in Genbank. We have shown that there is a distinct trend in rotavirus molecular epidemiology in Nigeria, with new genotype introductions occurring after the year 2010. We also observed from our analysis the emergence of genotype G12 Lineage III as a dominant genotype. This information elucidates rotavirus molecular epidemiology in Nigeria and gives insight to the expanding landscape of rotavirus genotypes. We recommend the institution of molecular surveillance country wide, before considering the inclusion of rotavirus vaccination into the National Immunization Program in Nigeria, in other to monitor evolution of divergent or recombinant strains.

Phylogeography and evolutionary analysis of African Rotavirus a genotype G12 reveals district genetic diversification within lineage III

“…Molecular epidemiology has identified the widespread circulation of various genotypes of rotavirus in Africa, the globally prevalent genotypes G1P [8], G3P [4] have been reported in various African countries [7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. However these globally prevalent genotypes are being replaced by more recent genotypes such as G9P [8], G8P [4], G12P [6], G12P [8], as previously reported [12].…”

Microbiological safety of ready‐to‐eat foods in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A comprehensive 10‐year (2009 to 2018) review

“…Furthermore, administration of these vaccines in humans has yielded some positive results as revealed in a few studies that reported reduction in human exposure to rotavirus in some LMICs (Armah et al., ; Bar‐Zeev et al., ; Schwartz et al., ). Notwithstanding, rotavirus vaccines are not yet widely available in some LMICs (Motayo, Faneye, & Adeniji, ; Sindhu, Babji, & Ganesan, ). Contrary to the case of rotavirus, development of norovirus vaccines is still ongoing (Hallowell, Parashar, & Hall, ; Riddle, Chen, Kirkwood, & MacLennan, ), and thus a licensed norovirus vaccine is currently unavailable (Huys, Grau, & Karst, ).…”

Molecular Epidemiology of Rotavirus Strains in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Children in Manhiça District, Southern Mozambique 2008–2019

“…G12P [8] was also found to be the most frequent genotype circulating in Mozambique in 2011 in Gaza Province, while G12P[6] was most frequently detected in Maputo Province in 2012 and 2013 in the pre-vaccine introduction period [16,17]. Similar reports have shown G12P [8] as an important emerging combination worldwide, which reached a higher proportion than other common combinations [33,34]. By contrast, countries such as Ghana and Burkina Faso reported the circulation of G12P [8] after rotavirus vaccine introduction into their immunization programs [35,36].…”