Group A rotavirus strains circulating in the eastern center of Tunisia during a ten‐year period (1995–2004)

Abstract

An epidemiological survey investigating rotavirus infections in children was undertaken in the Eastern Center of Tunisia between January 1995 and December 2004. A total of 982 faecal specimens collected from children less than 5 years in age were screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or latex agglutination assay for the presence of group A rotavirus antigen. Rotavirus-positive samples were used for G and P typing by multiplex semi-nested reverse transcription-PCR. Rotaviruses were detected in 22% (n = 220) of stools. Of these, 164 were typed for VP7: G genotypes found were G1 (59%), G2 (2%), G3 (9%), G4 (10%), G8 (1%), and G9 (1%). Sixteen specimens (9%) showed mixed G profiles. A total of 119 specimens were typed for VP4. P genotypes detected were P[8] (32%), P[6] (15%), and P[4] (13%). Mixed P profiles were also detected (6%). Although the distribution of the detected genotypes appeared to change annually, G1P[8] rotavirus strains always predominated during the 10-year period of study. This is the first report of rotaviruses in Tunisia with unconventional VP7 serotypes such as G8 and G9, highlighting the need for continual surveillance of emerging strains in Northern Africa. Indeed, the new commercial vaccines only contain the VP7 genes that dictate G1 or G1 to G4 specificities. These vaccines may protect less well against unusual strains circulating in countries planning to implement a rotavirus vaccine strategy.

Distribution of rotavirus VP7 and VP4 genotypes circulating in Tunisia from 2009 to 2014: Emergence of the genotype G12

“…This study extends previous epidemiological surveillance on RVA disease and genotype prevalence in Tunisian children <5 years of age consulting for acute gastroenteritis since 1995 (Chouikha et al, 2007(Chouikha et al, , 2011aTrabelsi et al, 2000Trabelsi et al, , 2010, and this prior to the introduction of RVA vaccination in the national childhood vaccination programme.…”

“…As expected, and compared to previous Tunisian studies, the distribution of RVA strains varied considerably. During a 10-year period (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004), G1 was the most predominant genotype (59 %) in Tunisia, followed by G4 (10 %), G3 (9 %), G2 (2 %) and G9 (1 %) (Chouikha et al, 2007).…”

“…G1P [8] represents the predominant combination circulating in Tunisia, with a prevalence of 34.4 %. Between 1995 and2004, G1P[8] was the predominant RVA strain in Tunisia (Chouikha et al, 2007;Trabelsi et al, 2000Trabelsi et al, , 2010 (Argüelles et al, 2000;Ben Hadj Fredj et al, 2012;Mukherjee et al, 2010). This reflects the great variability of RVA and the possibility of reassortment among strains.…”

“…Surveillance for RVAs is ongoing in Tunisia through a national RV surveillance group since 1995, providing a unique epidemiological observatory to monitor the evolution of human RVAs (Chouikha et al, 2007(Chouikha et al, , 2011a. Previous Tunisian studies investigating the VP7 and VP4 genes from human RVA strains showed a wide G/P-genotype diversity.…”

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

“…Although the ability of rotavirus genes to segregate independently upon dual infection could, in theory, lead to 132 G-P combinations, five G and P combinations, G1P [8], G2P [4], G3P [8], G4P [8], and G9P [8], are epidemiologically important in human infections [10,11]. However, geographical and temporal differences exist in the distribution of G and P types and their combinations: P [6] in association with G1, G2, G3, and G9 and G8 in combination with P [8] and P [6] have been shown to be the second most detected P and G type in India and some parts of the African continent, respectively [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Recent studies have reported the emergence of uncommon G or P types (G5, G6, G10, G11, G12, P [3], P [7], P [9], P [11], and many more) in different countries [10,11,[17][18][19][20][21][22].…”