Rotavirus Strains Bearing Genotype G9 or P[9] Recovered from Brazilian Children with Diarrhea from 1997 to 1999

Abstract

Human rotavirus strains belonging to genotype G9 or P[9] were detected in a collection of stool specimens from children with diarrhea in two cities of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between March 1997 and December 1999. G9 strains were first detected in April 1997 and remained prevalent until the end of the study, at a frequency of 15.9% (n ‫؍‬ 157). A high percentage of VP7 nucleotide (99.0 to 99.5%) and deduced amino acid identity (98.6 to 99.1%) was found between three randomly selected Brazilian G9 strains and the American G9 strain US1205. A novel G9:P[4] genotype combination was detected in addition to G9:P[8] and G9:P[6], demonstrating that this G genotype may undergo constant genetic reassortment in nature. The P[9] rotavirus strains constituted 10.2%, the majority of which were detected between April and July 1997. The RNA electrophoretic migration pattern of the G3:P[9] strains resembled that of AU-1 virus (G3:P3[9]), suggesting a genetic similarity between the Brazilian G3:P[9] strains and the Japanese virus, which is similar to a feline rotavirus genetically.Rotaviruses are the major etiologic agents of infantile diarrhea worldwide (15). Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that rotavirus serotypes G1, G2, G3, and G4 are the mostcommon types associated with disease globally, and therefore they are the targets for vaccine development (13,15). Recently, unusual rotavirus serotypes and genotypes have been described in association with diarrhea in various parts of the world. These include serotype G5 in Brazil (9, 17); G8 in Malawi (5), Kenya (21), South Africa (34), the United Kingdom (34), Nigeria (1), and Australia (24); and G9 in India (27), the United Sates (28), Bangladesh (36), Malawi (5), the United Kingdom, (4), Australia (25), France (2), and Ireland (22). The P specificity of a rotavirus is usually more conservative than its G specificity; P1A[8] is the most common serotype detected worldwide, followed by P1B[4] and P2A[6] (13). A rotavirus strain belonging to serotype P3 [9] was first identified in Japan and was demonstrated to be closely related to feline rotavirus strains genetically (20,35). The P[9] rotavirus strains have been detected more often in Japan (14, 37) than in other parts of the world such as Venezuela (32), Italy (32), Malaysia (29), Brazil (17), Israel (31), South Africa (33), Guinea-Bissau (7), and the United States (12). The P [9] isolates are most commonly associated with either G1 (K8-like) or G3 (AU-1-like) serotypes, except for one isolate from Guinea-Bissau which bears a G4 specificity (7).One hundred fifty-seven (23%; n ϭ 678) rotavirus-positive stool samples from children under 5 years of age with acute diarrhea (32 inpatients and 646 outpatients) were collected between March 1997 and December 1999, at four centers in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and one center in the neighboring city of Niterói in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The five centers are located in areas of distinct levels of sanitation and socioeconomic backgrounds. The presence of rotavir...

Hospitalization due to norovirus and genotypes of rotavirus in pediatric patients, state of Espírito Santo

“…This data reinforces the emergence of G9 on the Brazilian scenario, described for the first time in Rio de Janeiro by two research groups (Araujo et al 2001, Santos et al 2001) and at present, considered one of the most frequent genotypes in Goiás, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro (Costa et al 2004, Carvalho-Costa et al 2006.…”

Group A rotavirus genotypes and the ongoing Brazilian experience: a review

“…We postulate that such periods might be differentiated by the sharp decline in rates of G5 detection, which coincided with the emergence of G9 RV-As; the latter strains were initially detected in samples collected in 1997 in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Araújo et al 2001, Santos et al 2001. RV-As belonging to genotype G9 then emerged worldwide in the 1990s.…”

Human G3P[9] rotavirus strains possessing an identical genotype constellation to AU-1 isolated at high prevalence in Brazil, 1997–1999

“…Although P[9] strains have been detected in humans at very low rates of approximately 1 % globally Gentsch et al, 1996;Santos & Hoshino, 2005), they were continuously detected (16/157 , 10.2 %) in the Rio de Janeiro area between 1997 and 1999 (Santos et al, 2001). In the present study, we analysed eight P[9] strains and revealed that they had AU-1-like genotype constellations with high nucleotide identities in up to 11 segments.…”

“…After AU-1 was discovered, limited numbers of AU-1-like strains, which mostly had less conserved genomes compared with AU-1 and/or had at least partially reassortant genomes, have been isolated sporadically in humans and cats Gentsch et al, 1996;Gollop et al, 1998;Santos et al, 2001;Santo & Hoshino, 2005;Rahman et al, 2007;Grant et al, 2011;Matthijnssens et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2013;Gauchan et al, 2014;Theamboonlers et al, 2014 possessing the AU-1 genotype throughout all 11 genes (Rahman et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2013;Theamboonlers et al, 2014). Santos et al (2001) screened diarrhoea stool samples from Brazilian children between 1997 and 1999, and found that 16 out of 157 RVs (10.2 %) were P[9] genotype by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR genotyping. In the present study, we analysed eight of these 16 strains by whole-genome sequencing, and examined whether these were also less conserved and/or reassortant strains like those isolated so far or were unusually stable and infective genuine descendants of the AU-1 strain.…”