title: [Surveillance finding on rotavirus in Changchun children's hospital during July 1998-June 2001].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Changchun Children's Hospital, Changchun 130061, China.
authors.forename: Li-wei
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Zhi-li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Li-hong
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li-shu
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hua-ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Cheng-xun
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li-jie
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ivanoff
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bresee
authors.forename: X I
authors.initials: XI
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Kilgore
authors.forename: Zhao-yin
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: 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