Among 1,325 norovirus sequences from children under 5 with acute gastroenteritis globally, over 50% were GII.4 Sydney[P16] or GII.4 Sydney[P31] strains, highlighting high strain diversity.
Observational (n=1,325)
Yes
Norovirus is a major cause of pediatric acute gastroenteritis globally, highlighting the need for effective vaccines.
G lobally, noroviruses are associated with ≈20% of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases, causing an estimated 685 million episodes and 210,000 deaths each year (1,2).By 2 years of age, children have probably had >1 norovirus infection (3-5).Children in this age group are at risk for severe illness, prolonged symptoms, and infection by multiple strains (3-5).Sporadic illnesses among children might contribute to community transmission and outbreaks among all age groups (6).In countries with successful rotavirus vaccination campaigns, norovirus is now the most common cause of pediatric AGE requiring medical attention (7-9).As of January 2021, vaccines for norovirus are in clinical trials (phase I and II) and developmental stages (10).However, their design is challenging because of the high genetic diversity of noroviruses and incomplete understanding of crossprotective immunity (11).If candidate vaccines are successful at blocking onward transmission events, norovirus vaccination will benefi t children and unvaccinated persons across all age groups (12). Norovirus classifi cation is based on amino acid diversity of the major capsid protein (encoded by Global Trends in Norovirus Genotype Distribution among Children with Acute Gastroenteritis
Cannon et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Acute gastroenteritis (n=1,325). Norovirus infection was evaluated on Norovirus genotype distribution. Among 1,325 norovirus sequences from children under 5 with acute gastroenteritis globally, over 50% were GII.4 Sydney[P16] or GII.4 Sydney[P31] strains, highlighting high strain diversity.