title: Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus in Central and Southeastern Europe.
abstract: A surveillance network was implemented by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità of Rome in collaboration with laboratories of virology in Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, and Bulgaria. About 1,500 rotavirus-positive stool samples were collected from children with severe gastroenteritis admitted to hospitals or outpatient wards between 2004 and 2006. The G and P genotypes were determined by reverse transcription-nested PCR. Significant differences were found in the geographical distributions of rotavirus genotypes between countries participating in the study. The prevalence of "common" G/P combinations, G1P[8], G3P[8], G4P[8], and G2P[4], ranged between 50 and 85%. The G9 genotype, which is emerging worldwide, was identified in 2 to 35% of all samples depending on the country. Unusual combinations, such as G1 or G4 associated with P[4] or G2 with P[8], which may have arisen by reassortment between human strains, were found in samples from 3 to 20% of patients. The uncommon genotypes G8P[8] and G10P[6], which may have an animal origin, were also identified. Double infections with two rotavirus strains were observed in between 1.7 and 14% of cases studied. Our findings might implicate challenges for rotavirus vaccine implementation in a wide geographic area of the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe and underscore the importance of extensive strain surveillance for success in vaccine development.
authors.affiliation: Department MIPI, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tcheremenskaia
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marucci
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Petris
authors.forename: Franco Maria
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.forename: Darja
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dovecar
authors.forename: Suncanica Ljubin
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Sternak
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matyasova
authors.forename: Majlinda Kota
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Dhimolea
authors.forename: Zornitsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mladenova
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiore
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*