Detection and characterization of human group C rotavirus in the pediatric population of Barcelona, Spain.
BACKGROUND
The role of group C rotavirus as a cause of childhood diarrhea is not well defined.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of human group C rotavirus in stools of children in Barcelona, Spain, and to describe the genetic diversity of the rotavirus capsid proteins - VP6, VP7 and VP4 - in these samples.


METHODS
Stool specimens were assayed for rotavirus C RNA by an RT-PCR/southern-blot technique that included controls to indicate the presence of inhibitors of RT-PCR in the samples.


RESULTS
Human rotavirus C was detected in 3 of 467 samples. One hundred and forty-five (31%) of these samples showed the presence of inhibitors of the RT-PCR assay. Thus, the corrected estimation for detection of group C rotavirus in Barcelona was of 1%. The entire VP4, VP6 and VP7 sequences were determined for all three isolates, revealing the relatedness of two of them to strains circulating in Europe, while the third was very close to sub-Saharan African strains.


CONCLUSIONS
The low rate of detection of group C rotavirus suggests that it is not an emerging pathogen in children in our region.
Abid
Islem
I
Enteric Virus Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Avda Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Guix
Susana
S
Aouni
Mahjoub
M
Pintó
Rosa
R
Bosch
Albert
A
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005814:Genes, Viral; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D014505:Urban Population
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C061332:VP6 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus