title: Outbreak of gastroenteritis in military recruits associated with serotype 3 astrovirus infection.
abstract: A serotype 3 astrovirus was identified in stool samples from an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that occurred among military recruits in France. Sixteen stools samples and eight pairs of acute- and convalescent-phase serum were collected from affected individuals. Astrovirus was detected in two stool samples by electron microscopy and in four stool samples by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Seroconversion to the astrovirus present in one stool was detected in seven patients by using solid-phase immune electron microscopy (SPIEM) and dot blot. For three patients, the serological results were consistent with the PCR results, indicating that astrovirus was a cause of gastroenteritis in these young adults. This study describes the characterization of the serotype 3 astrovirus associated with this outbreak. The virus has a buoyant density in cesium chloride of 1.365 gm/ml and contains two proteins immuno-precipitated with rabbit serum. Only the larger protein was recognized by immunoblotting using a convalescent-phase human serum. The protein composition of this virus differs from that reported for serotype 1 astrovirus, indicating heterogeneity in the capsid composition among astrovirus serotypes.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Hygiene Hospitalière, Faculté de Médecine, Clermont-Ferrand, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Belliot
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laveran
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Monroe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D019350:Astroviridae Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D018938:Caco-2 Cells; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D001257:Mamastrovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008889:Military Personnel; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral