[Surveillance finding on rotavirus in Changchun children's hospital during July 1998-June 2001].
OBJECTIVE
To establish baseline patterns of rotavirus diarrhea and to describe its epidemiologic features in Changchun city, prior to rotavirus vaccine immunization.


METHODS
Hospital-based surveillance was conducted among children under 5 years old with acute diarrhea in Changchun Children's Hospital. Fecal samples were determined to identify rotavirus by PAGE and/or ELISA. G serotypes of rotavirus were identified by ELISA and/or nested RT-PCR. P genotyping were carried out by RT-PCR. All data were computerized and analysed by "Generic Manual on Rotavirus Surveillance" set by CDC in the USA.


RESULTS
In total, 2 343 diarrhea cases were screened and 1 211 fecal samples were collected. Rotavirus was detected in 31.0% among outpatients and 52.9% in inpatients. During the peak of the season (November through March), 58.6% of diarrhea was caused by rotavirus among inpatients. 95.0% of rotavirus diarrhea cases occurred among children aged < 2 years. The predominant strain was serotype G1 (82.4%), followed by G2 (5.0%), G3 (3.3%), G4 (0.9%). P genotyping showed that P[8] and P[4] were the most common ones. Nine different P-G combinations were identified, four strains (P[8]G1, P[4]G2, P[8]G3, and P[8]G4) commonly seen worldwide accounted for 75.6% of the total. Taken together with uncommon strains, including the novel types P[4]G4 and P[8]G2, it highlights the extraordinary diversity of rotaviruses circulating in China.


CONCLUSIONS
Rotavirus is the major cause of severe child diarrhea in Changchun. Developing a rotavirus vaccine for prevention of severe disease and reduction of treatment costs seemed to be necessary.
Sun
Li-wei
LW
Changchun Children's Hospital, Changchun 130061, China.
Tong
Zhi-li
ZL
Li
Li-hong
LH
Zhang
Jing
J
Chen
Qi
Q
Zheng
Li-shu
LS
Liu
Jing
J
Xie
Hua-ping
HP
Wang
Cheng-xun
CX
Zhang
Li-jie
LJ
Ivanoff
B
B
Glass
R I
RI
Bresee
J S
JS
Jiang
X I
XI
Kilgore
P E
PE
Fang
Zhao-yin
ZY
D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D012703:Serotyping