Human rotavirus subgroups and serotypes in children with acute gastroenteritis in Saudi Arabia from 1988 to 1992

Rotavirus infection was detected in 524 (42.2%) of the 1,242 stool specimens collected from infants and young children with acute gastroenteritis admitted to a major pediatric hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between March 1988 and December 1992. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and monoclonal antibodies specific for subgroup I and II were used to examine 80 rotavirus positive specimens. Subgroup I was detected in 21 (26.3%) and subgroup II in 49 (61.3%) specimens. Six specimens reacted with both subgroup I and II monoclonal antibodies and four specimens were untypeable. Serotyping of 355 rotavirus positive specimens using monoclonal antibodies specific for the human rotavirus serotypes 1 to 4 revealed a distribution profile of serotype 1, 53.5%; serotype 2, 6.8%; serotype 3, 5.9%; and serotype 4, 22.8%, along with mixed and untypeable specimens (11%). When the correlation between subgroup and serotype specificities was examined in 62 specimens, all subgroup I specimens were found to be serotype 2 or untypeable and all subgroup II specimens belonged predominantly to serotypes 1 (54.7%) and 4 (9.4%). Serotype 1, followed by, to a lesser extent, serotype 4, exhibited a temporal predominance in the 5-year investigation. A significant clustering of the various serotypes during the cooler months was evident almost throughout the study, particularly in 1989 and 1990.