title: Epidemiological features of rotavirus infection among hospitalized children with gastroenteristis in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
abstract: An epidemiological study of the G serotype and P genotype distribution of group A rotaviruses by using ELISA and/or RT-PCR was conducted in children (aged 1 month to 15 years) with diarrhea that were admitted to the General Children's Hospital No. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from December 1999 to November 2000. The results showed that rotavirus is associated with 65.6% (889/1355) of diarrheal admissions. Rotavirus infection mostly affected children under 2 years of age with a peak incidence in children 1 to 2 years of age (75.7%) and it occurs year round with a slight seasonal pattern; 99.5% of the specimens could be G-typed: G1 was predominant (68.7%), followed by G4 (15.4%), G2 (12.3%), G3 (0.6%), and G9 (0.5%). High identities of VP7 nucleotide (96.3 to 96.9%) and deduced amino acid (98.1 to 98.4%) were found between two Vietnamese G9 strains and also the recent emergence of G9 strains US 1205, Brazilian R143, and Malawian MW69. Mixed infections were identified in 17 (2.0%), and 5 strains (0.5%) remained untypable. The four most common worldwide strains, G1P[8], G2P[4], G3P[8], and G4P[8], constituted 81.1% of all rotaviruses typed with G1P[8] being the most prevalent type (58.2%). Unusual G/P combinations (11 strains) were detected in 11.7% of all strains, of which, G1P[4] was the most prevalent, accounting for 5.6% of the total. Several combinations of G and P types were observed in this study, suggesting a complex rotavirus infection pattern in Vietnam. This study has provided for the first time clear indication on the circulating G and P genotypes among hospitalized children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The results suggest that these viral infections are prevalent among hospitalized children and that the four most common worldwide G types as well as the four most common G-P combinations were also infecting children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This result could have important implications for rotavirus vaccine programs and for understanding the epidemiological characteristics of human rotavirus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Medical Sciences, Institute of International Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan.
authors.forename: Lan Thi Phuong
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Doan
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okitsu
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nishio
authors.forename: Dung Trung
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.forename: Dung Hoang
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ushijima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D012621:Seasons; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012703:Serotyping; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus