Molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of norovirus infection in children with acute gastroenteritis in Bangladesh, 2014–2019

Abstract

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is one of the most common diseases in children, and it continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Norovirus is one of the major enteropathogens associated with both sporadic diarrhea and outbreaks of gastroenteritis. This study aims to investigate genotype diversity and molecular epidemiology of norovirus in Bangladesh. A total of 466 fecal specimens were collected from January 2014 to January 2019 from children below 5 years old with AGE in Bangladesh. All samples were analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to detect norovirus, and sequence analysis was conducted if found positive. Norovirus was detected in 5.1% (24 of 466) fecal specimens. Norovirus genotype GII.7 was predominant (62.5%, 15 of 24), followed by GII.3 (37.5%, 9 of 24). Coinfection between rotavirus and norovirus was found in 7 of 24 positive cases. Diarrhea (93.7%) and dehydration (89%) were the most common symptoms in children with AGE. About 80% of the positive cases were detected in children aged under 24 months. One seasonal peak (87.5% infection) was detected in the winter. This study suggests that norovirus continues to be one of the major etiologies of children AGE in Bangladesh. This study will provide a guideline to assess the burden of norovirus infection in Bangladesh, which will assist to combat against AGE.

Epidemiological investigation of norovirus infections in Punjab, Pakistan, through the One Health approach

“…In humans, previous studies have reported a prevalence of 9.9% in Karachi alone, and 16.1% and 19.5% in studies conducted in multiple cities ( 8 , 24 , 29 ). Prevalence data reported in this study falls in the range of other studies conducted in similar settings such as 10.3% in India ( 30 ), 5.1% in Bangladesh ( 31 ), 11.2% in Taiwan ( 32 ), and 10% in Yemen ( 33 ). Many of the previous studies tested the GI and GII genogroups but in this study, we have only tested samples for the GII genogroup which is the most prevalent genogroup in humans at the global level including Pakistan ( 8 , 31 , 34 , 35 ).…”

“…Prevalence data reported in this study falls in the range of other studies conducted in similar settings such as 10.3% in India ( 30 ), 5.1% in Bangladesh ( 31 ), 11.2% in Taiwan ( 32 ), and 10% in Yemen ( 33 ). Many of the previous studies tested the GI and GII genogroups but in this study, we have only tested samples for the GII genogroup which is the most prevalent genogroup in humans at the global level including Pakistan ( 8 , 31 , 34 , 35 ). A study conducted in the neighboring country, India, reported 82.5% of cases of genogroup GII as compared to 12.5% of cases for the GI genogroup ( 30 ).…”

Establishment and application of a rapid assay for GII.4/GII.17 NoV detection based on the combination of CRISPR/Cas13a and isothermal amplification

“…Genogroups GI, GII, and GIV can infect humans. In the past decades, GII.4 NoVs have been the most predominant strain worldwide, accounting for 70–80% of all reported outbreaks ( de Graaf et al, 2016 ; Dey et al, 2021 ). Meanwhile, the novel GII.P17-GII.17 NoVs strain became the predominant strain, surpassing the GII.4 strain, in Asia during the 2014–2016 NoV epidemic seasons ( de Graaf et al, 2015 ).…”

National Consensus for the Management of Acute Gastroenteritis in Jordanian Children: Consensus Recommendations Endorsed by the Jordanian Paediatric Society

“…Consistently, these criteria are adopted in the current consensus, with the addition of an age cut-off of 6 months. Viral AGE most often occurs in younger age groups [ 33 , 34 ], who are more susceptible to diseases. Moreover, children below the age of 6 months often benefit through breastfeeding from the protective effect of maternal antibodies, which also protect against viral pathogens [ 35 ].…”