Distribution of Rotavirus Genotypes in Europe, 2004–2005: The REVEAL Study

Abstract

Rotavirus genotypes G1-G4 and G9 are associated with the majority of RVGE infections in the areas studied, with geographic and seasonal variation in the distributions of rotavirus strains. Rotavirus vaccines should, therefore, provide protection against all major genotypes to decrease effectively the RVGE disease burden in Europe.

Rotavirus genotypes in children in the Basque Country (northern Spain) over a 13-year period (July 1996–June 2009)

“…In Europe, the new strains were initially detected in the United Kingdom (1995-1996) combined with P-type 6, which was replaced by P-type 8 in the next few years [18] A well-documented finding in this survey was the marked decrease in the current decade in the circulation of the G4 genotype. This genotype circulated widely in our environment in the 1990s but only sporadically after 1999, in line with prior reports in Spain [22] but in contrast with reports from other European regions [2,22,[24][25][26].…”

“…Human [P14] rotavirus strains have been reported exceptionally across the globe and probably represent occasional interspecies transmission from ruminants [28]. Likewise, we detected G-type 12 strains, which have recently spread throughout the world and are increasingly identified in Europe [14,25,29]. Of the 1,538 rotavirus strains investigated, 6.5% could not be G-and P-typed, a percentage that could be expected from the results of other studies [9,12].…”

“…The percentage of strains from hospitalized patients was similar for the distinct G-types; consequently, differences in their aggressivity seems unlikely [2,25]. Greater pathogenicity has been associated with some genotypes [30,31], which is currently a cause of controversy.…”

“…Three strains belonging to G-types 6 (G6[P14]) and 8 (G8[P8] and G8 [P14]) were detected. G6 and G8 strains are frequently found in bovine cattle [9] and are rarely detected in human infections in Europe [14,15,18,21,25,26]. Human [P14] rotavirus strains have been reported exceptionally across the globe and probably represent occasional interspecies transmission from ruminants [28].…”

Molecular epidemiology of rotaviruses in Bulgaria: annual shift of the predominant genotype

“…Although a reduction in the episodes of gastroenteritis attributable to rotaviruses was seen between 2005 and 2008, it is not clear whether the recent introduction of rotavirus testing and sampling for the current study may be a confounding factor, and only continued surveillance will allow the monitoring of this trend in the long term. [17,18,23,[37][38][39][40][41]. These fluctuations may be driven by herd immunity and the emergence of a particular genotype may reflect the buildup of a sufficiently large population of susceptible children.…”