Dominating prevalence of P[8],G1 and P[8],G9 rotavirus strains among children admitted to hospital between 2000 and 2003 in Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

Group A rotaviruses are the main cause of acute dehydrating diarrhea in children, responsible for high mortality in developing countries and a significant socio-economic burden associated with treating the disease in developed countries. Two rotavirus vaccine candidates predicated on either homotypic or heterotypic protection have undergone clinical trials recently and await licensure for routine use. In anticipation of a future vaccination campaign in Hungary, the diversity of rotaviruses collected from Budapest between 2000 and 2003 were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of the viral genome and by serotyping and genotyping of the outer capsid genes, VP7 and VP4. Among 2,763 rotavirus positive specimens available for analysis, we were able to determine the electropherotype of 2,227, and, of these, 1,517 (68.1%) were subjected to G typing and 1,173 (52.7%) were subjected to P typing. We successfully G typed 1,481 (97.6%) and P typed 1,130 (96.3%) strains, respectively. A total of six G types (G1, 50.2%; G2, 2.2%; G3, 1.7%; G4, 5.8%; G6, 0.6%; and G9, 34.4%) and four P types (P[4], 3.0%; P[6], 0.7%; P[8], 89.9%; and P[9], 1.7%) were identified in nine individual combinations (P[8],G1; P[4],G2; P[8],G3; P[8],G4; P[8],G9; P[6],G4; P[4],G1; P[9],G3; and P[9],G6). The prevalence of VP7 and VP4 specificities varied from year to year. In this regard, a shift in serotype predominance from G1 in 2000-2001 (61.8%) and 2001-2002 (69.7%) to G9 in 2002-2003 (51.3%) was an intriguing observation that has been reported recently in some other countries, as well. The emergence of serotype G9 rotaviruses in Hungary and other parts of the world may have implications for future vaccine development and use, particularly, if current vaccine candidates cannot confer adequate homotypic or heterotypic protection against these strains.

Heterogeneity and Temporal Dynamics of Evolution of G1 Human Rotaviruses in a Settled Population

“…While between 1985 and 2004, G2P [4], G4P [8], and G9P [8] strains varied in their distribution or completely disappeared for short or long periods of time, G1 strains have been continuously circulating in the infant population of Palermo, a pattern that has been described in various other geographical settings as well (6,9,11,25,35,46,58,59). However, unlike the G2P [4] and G4P [8] Italian rotavirus strains, a highly heterogeneous population of G1 strains has been circulating in Italy over the whole study period.…”

“…In a first PCR round, a 1,060-nucleotide-long fragment of the gene encoding VP7 was amplified with a generic oligonucleotide primer pair (Beg9-End9) (28,36), and the G types were subsequently predicted in a second PCR round with a pool of internal primers specific for the G1, G2, G3, G4, and G9 genotypes in combination with the reverse consensus primer (28,36). Similarly, an 876-bp fragment of the fourth genome segment, encompassing the VP8* portion of VP4, was amplified with generic primers Con3 and Con2, and P genotyping was carried out with internal primers specific for the P [4], P [6], P [8], and P [9] genotypes (26,36). The PCR mixtures were prepared and thermal cycling was performed as previously described (36).…”

Characterization of rotavirus strains from day care centers: pre- and post-rotavirus vaccine era

“…Nossos dados mostram a presença de RVA G9P [8], G2P[4] e G1P [8], em conformidade com a prevalência mundial relatada para esses três genótipos 9 . Conforme esperado, o G9 foi o genótipo mais frequente em circulação desde 2004.…”

“…Esse genótipo foi previamente detectado no Brasil, de acordo com a emergência global 10,11 . O G1 foi o segundo mais comum tipo G encontrado, correspondendo aos resultados de diversos estudos com foco na distribuição do RVA tipo G em muitos países, inclusive no Brasil 9,11 . O genótipo G2P [4] foi a única cepa observada em 2007.…”

Molecular characterization of rotaviruses in mid-western Turkey, 2006–2007

“…Purified dsRNA was added to a mixture of random hexamers, heat denatured and then immediately cooled. After complementary DNA was synthesized, the amplification was performed using type-specific primers for genotypes G1 to G4, and G9 VP7 and for genotypes P [4], P [6], P [8], and P [9] VP4 [10][11][12]. Those samples that gave no specific products in this single-round genotyping PCR were then subjected to semi-nested PCR using the VP7 and VP4 gene specific consensus primers (VP7, 9con1 and RVG9; VP4, con3 and con2) [10,11,13], respectively, in the first-round PCR.…”