Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of Group A Rotavirus Circulating in Shanxi Province, China During 2015-2019

Abstract

Background: Group A rotavirus (RVA), despite being a leading cause of gastroenteritis in infants and young children, is less studied in Shanxi Province, China. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence and genetic characterization of RVA in hospitalized children under ten years old with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis in Shanxi Province, China. Methods: A hospital-based active surveillance of rotavirus gastroenteritis was conducted at Children’s Hospital of Shanxi from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2019. Rotavirus was detected in stool samples by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). G and P genotypes were determined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and nucleotide sequencing. Results：A total of 961 archived stool specimens was examined, 183 (19.0%) were positive for RVA. The highest RVA-infection frequency (23.7%) was found among children aged 12–23 months, and the seasonal peak was in December. G9P[8] was most prevalent (76.0%), followed by G3P[8] (7.1 %), G2P[4] (3.3 %), G1P[8] (0.5 %) and G9P[4] (0.5 %).Conclusions: These results reported for the first time that RVA was one of the main causes of severe infectious gastroenteritis in children, and a high proportion of G9P[8] strains circulating in most areas of Shanxi Province. While the protective efficacy of the rotavirus vaccines has been demonstrated against G9P[8] strains, our results highlight that the dominant strains have not been effectively controlled in China.

Nonpharmaceutical interventions against the COVID‐19 pandemic significantly decreased the spread of enterovirus in children

“…15 According to several studies carried out in different provinces in China, the rotavirus infection percentage ranged from 17.5% to 30.5%. [16][17][18][19] However, in our present study, the positive proportions of rotavirus and adenovirus infections in children were 18.18% and The prevalence of rotavirus has obvious seasonal and geographical variations worldwide. Peak periods of rotavirus occur in the winter-spring months in temperate climates, while in the subtropical zone, the prevalence of rotavirus is recorded throughout the year and peaks in the dry seasons.…”

“…13 In the present study, we found that the number and rate of rotavirus infection in both 2019 and 2020 peaked from December to March, which is consistent with the results of other studies on the seasonality of rotavirus infection in China. 18,20 Interestingly, under Zhejiang's prevention and control measures that initiated the 1-level emergency response on January 23, 2020, the positive number and rate of rotavirus infection decreased sharply in February 2020, and the positive rate of rotavirus from January to December 2020 was obviously lower than that in 2019. In early studies, there was no apparent seasonal distribution or any peak in the frequency of adenovirus infections throughout the year 6 ; however, others recently found peaks in summer and fall.…”

Clinical Profile and Characterization of Rotavirus Strains in Under-Five Children with Diarrhea: A Hospital-Based Study from Eastern Odisha, India

“…16 G3[P8] was the second most prevalent strain in a study from a neighboring country. 5 There have been studies of an emergency of equine-like G3[P8] inter-genogroup reassortant variants in recent times 25,26 ; full genome analysis is needed to confirm the strains in our study. The prevalent rotavirus strains are changing with time, and G3[P8] is emerging as a common strain in this vaccine era; this may point toward the emergence of equine strain found in other studies.…”

“…9 Previous studies from Odisha have shown the proportion of rotaviral diarrhea as high as 54.75% 19 to as low as 30.66%. 16 Studies from neighboring countries have shown that rotavirus is responsible for 19, 5 21, 20 and 20.3% 21 9 Another study by the Indian Council of Medical Research found a higher prevalence in 13 to 24 months (59.7%), followed by 7 to 12 months (56.6%). 16 There was a sharp decline in rotaviral positivity of stool samples with increasing age.…”

“…Now more than 36G and 51P subtypes have been identified in humans and animal species. 5 G and P serotypes have been used to define a rotavirus strain. Over time, there is a constant rise in the proportion of rotaviral diarrhea in hospitalized children, with 26% positivity before 2000 to 38% after 2005.…”