Isolation and Molecular Genotyping of Group a Rotavirus Strains Circulating among Egyptian Infants and Children

Purpose: Group A rotaviruses are the most important cause of acute diarrhea in children throughout the world. They are the cause of more than 450,000 annual deaths. There are few data available about rotaviruses type circulating in Egypt. Genotyping by reverse transcription-PCR (RT- PCR) have been widely used. Aim: To identify rotavirus antigens and RNA among stool specimens isolated from Egyptian children and to perform molecular characterization among the detected isolates. Materials and Methods: This study comprised 450 stool specimens collected from children less than 5 years old suffering from acute diarrhea, from three different governorates in Egypt (Cairo, Sharkia and Fayoum) during May 2009 to April 2010. Results: Rotavirus was detected by RT PCR in 158 (35%) of patients stool samples. G1 was the predominant genotype detected in 87/158 cases (55%). G3 was the second most common cause and was responsible for 35 cases (22.2%). whereas G4 represented only 8.2% (13/158) of all strains. Our study identified G9 in 23 (14.5%) of positive cases. No untypable strains were detected and mixed infection between G1and G4 in 1.9% (3/158) of the samples was detected. G8, G2 were not detected among collected samples. Conclusions: These results underline the importance of continued detailed epidemiological and virological studies to identify rotavirus genotypes responsible for severe diarrhea, including characterization of the less common and or unusual strains. Focusing on the more prevalent strains circulating in the Egyptian community will add in assessing the most suitable strain candidates used for vaccine production to protect against current circulating and uncommon strains and for evaluation of cross immunogenicity among variable strains.