Molecular characterization of norovirus infection responsible for acute diarrhea in Congolese hospitalized children under five years old in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

Abstract

Background: Acute diarrhea is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five worldwide. As no published data is available on the occurrence of this infection in the Republic of Congo, this study aimed at (1) determining the prevalence and (2) characterizing genotypes of norovirus strains in Brazzaville. Methods: From June 2012 to June 2013, stool samples were collected from hospitalized young children with acute gastroenteritis. A total of 545 samples were tested for GI and GII norovirus infections using nested duplex reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Results: The GI and GII norovirus infection were detected in 148 samples. Males (28%) were not significantly more infected than females (25%). Norovirus infection was found exclusively in children aged under 24 months with a higher prevalence (P = 0,048) in the age group of 7-12 months, and throughout the year with a peak in August and September. Genetic diversity of norovirus strains revealed that GII was the most prevalent (87%). No risk factor was significantly associated with norovirus infection. Conclusion: This study showed that noroviruses are important agents responsible for acute diarrhea in Congolese children and highlights the importance of continued surveillance.

Genetic Diversity of Enteric Viruses in Children under Five Years Old in Gabon

“…Our findings demonstrated that children were carried enteric viruses implicated in diarrhea in the 0 to 24 months age group. This is consistent with previous reports emphasizing that maternal antibodies transmitted during breastfeeding are not sufficient to protect against gastroenteritis viruses during the first 24 months of life [36,37]. Furthermore, our results suggest that the presence of viruses in this age group could be due to direct contact with people who experienced gastroenteritis symptoms, contaminated water, or food [38].…”

“…In addition, our results are comparable to findings in Cameroonian and Burkinabe studies reporting NoV cases in healthy children, albeit with a considerably lower detection rate in our study [33,40]. More generally, we found a lower prevalence of NoV in our study compared to that reported in all previous studies from neighboring countries [33,37]. As observed elsewhere, GI strains were less frequently detected and had a higher diversity than GII genogroups [26,30,41].…”

Prevalence and genetic characterization of noroviruses in children with acute gastroenteritis in Senegal, 2007–2010

“…Over the study period of 4 years, we found an overall norovirus prevalence of 13% compared to other studies in the African region 13 . The relative incidence of norovirus has increased due to the successful implementation of rotavirus vaccines in many countries 13,14 . This suggests that more recently collected samples should be tested in Senegal where a rotavirus vaccine was introduced in November 2014.…”

“…13 The relative incidence of norovirus has increased due to the successful implementation of rotavirus vaccines in many countries. 13,14 This suggests that more recently collected samples should be tested in Senegal where a rotavirus vaccine was introduced in November 2014.…”

Interventions to prevent surface transmission of an infectious virus based on real human touch behavior: a case study of the norovirus

“…Norovirus is the main cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and diarrhea worldwide ( Lucero et al, 2020 ;Mikounou Louya et al, 2019 ) and is responsible for economic losses of more than $60 billion annually ( Bartsch et al, 2016 ). Approximately 20% of all AGE cases are caused by the norovirus, and it is estimated to cause more than 20 0,0 0 0 deaths annually .…”