Outbreaks of Adult Gastroenteritis Traced to a Single Genotype of Rotavirus

Abstract

Between November 1998 and December 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention screened samples from 263 outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the United States and identified 3 that were associated with rotavirus among adults. Rotaviruses from each outbreak were further characterized by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Surprisingly, all specimens were of serotype G2, a strain that is, as determined by high-stringency hybridization analysis, genetically distinct in all 11 gene segments from the other common rotavirus strains in circulation. The unusual coincidence of identification of only G2 strains in these 3 outbreaks of rotavirus gastroenteritis among adults is similar to results from other studies, in which G2 strains were found in association with more-severe disease in children than other rotavirus serotypes and in association with outbreaks of diarrhea among adults in Japan. Although rotavirus infections in adults are relatively uncommon, which indicates that good overall protective immunity exists, the predominance of G2 strains in outbreaks that have occurred in adults suggests that natural immunity to more common strains does not always provide adequate heterotypic immunity to G2 strains. For the rotavirus vaccines under development, special attention may need to be paid to protection against G2 strains.

Molecular Epidemiology of Rotavirus Diarrhea among Children and Adults in Nepal: Detection of G12 Strains with P[6] or P[8] and a G11P[25] Strain

“…This observation may be in contrast to data from many previous reports in which rotavirus gastroenteritis outbreaks affecting older children and adults were attributed to infection with G2P [4] strains (18,27). When G1P [8] rotaviruses found in different age groups were further analyzed by electropherotypes, it appeared that the detection of one codominant strain, E9, deviated toward the younger age group, whereas the detection of the other codominant strain, E3, deviated toward the older age group (Table 3).…”

Diarrhea Caused by Rotavirus in Children Less than 5 Years of Age in Hanoi, Vietnam

“…This pathogen infects not only children but also adults (12,16), and rotavirus infection may occur repeatedly in humans from birth to old age (17). Young children are the most vulnerable subjects, and the prevalence of infection differs by age.…”

G2 rotavirus infections in an infantile population of the South of Italy: Variability of viral strains over time

“…It is thought that homotypic immune response to rotavirus correlated with protection against severe diarrhea, and heterotypic antibodies within a genogroup may also be important for protection from secondary infections [Bishop et al, 1983;Offit, 1996;Velazquez et al, 1996]. Primary infections with G1 type followed by symptomatic infection with G2 type have been described by Linhares et al [1988] and symptomatic G2 infections in adults have also been reported [Timenetsky et al, 1996;Griffin et al, 2002]. In a study in South Africa, it was demonstrated that a temporal distribution with peaks in the prevalence of G2 strains after 10 years could be observed [Page and Steele, 2004a].…”