Molecular epidemiology of human group A rotavirus infections in the United Kingdom between 1995 and 1998.
The G and P types of 2,912 rotavirus-positive fecal specimens collected from eight geographical areas of the United Kingdom between 1995 and 1998 were determined by reverse transcription-PCR. Although 15 different G-P combinations were identified, G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8] strains constituted 95% of all the rotaviruses typed. Other genotypes included G9P[6] and G9P[8], which were first identified in the United Kingdom in 1995, or other uncommon G and/or P types of strains that may have had an animal origin. Unusual combinations of G1 or G4 with P[4] and G2 with P[8] which may have arisen by reassortment between human strains were also identified. G1P[8] was the genotype most frequently found (57 to 87%) in each season, followed by G2P[4] in the 1995-1996 (18%) and 1997-1998 (16%) seasons, although the incidence of infection with this virus decreased significantly to 2% during the 1996-1997 season. Significant differences were seen in the distributions of G1P[8], G2P[4], and G9P[8] strains between children and adults, in the temporal distributions of G4P[8] and G9P[8] strains within a season, and in the geographical distributions of each of the four most common genotypes from one season to the next.
Iturriza-Gómara
M
M
Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge,-CB2 2QW, United Kingdom.
Green
J
J
Brown
D W
DW
Ramsay
M
M
Desselberger
U
U
Gray
J J
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008875:Middle Aged; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology