Key result
An unusual G3P[4] rotavirus strain, designated JF98, was detected in 73.4% of rotavirus-positive specimens and accounted for 85.5% of severe rotavirus-associated diarrhea cases requiring hospitalization.
Observational (n=1,056)
Yes
An unusual G3P[4] rotavirus strain was identified as the primary cause of a severe winter gastroenteritis epidemic among young children in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, in 1998.
Supports monitoring for atypical rotavirus strains in pediatric outbreaks; leaves open their current prevalence and vaccine implications.
An epidemiologic survey on the rotavirus strains causing gastroenteritis in young children was conducted in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, in Southern Brazil during two consecutive seasons. Rotavirus was detected in 94 of the 1,056 fecal specimens collected from January 1998 to December 1999. Among the 13 discernible long electrophoretic profiles found, one was highly prevalent (73.4%) and represented the rotavirus strain responsible for the May-August winter epidemic outbreak of 1998, as clearly shown in a three-dimensional graph. This epidemic strain, designated JF98, was characterized as subgroup II and genotype G3P[4] by the original reverse transcription-PCR typing assays. Besides the unusual combination of G and P types, this G3 strain lacked reactivity with anti-G3-specific monoclonal antibodies and presented an uncommon pattern upon digestion of its cDNA-copied VP7 gene with the BstYI restriction enzyme. Strain JF98 affected primarily 6- to 24-month-old children and accounted for 85.5% of the severe rotavirus-associated dehydrating diarrhea cases that required hospitalization. As in our previous studies in neighboring Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, a remarkably large proportion (44%) of mixed infections was detected, generating a complex set of circulating strains in the community, represented by the many distinct electropherotypes. Other common human types were detected as minor strains in single or in mixed infections, including the JF98 strain. Those were types G1, G4, G8, G9, P[8], and P[6], but not G2 or G5. One specimen contained a mixture of group A and C rotaviruses.
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Silva et al. (2002) conducted an observational in Gastroenteritis (n=1,056). Rotavirus infection (epidemic strain JF98) vs. Other rotavirus strains or non-rotavirus gastroenteritis was evaluated on Detection and characterization of rotavirus strains causing gastroenteritis. An unusual G3P[4] rotavirus strain, designated JF98, was detected in 73.4% of rotavirus-positive specimens and accounted for 85.5% of severe rotavirus-associated diarrhea cases requiring hospitalization.
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