title: Norovirus genotype IIb associated acute gastroenteritis in India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In India the role of noroviruses in causing gastroenteritis is not well defined.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the norovirus prevalence in sporadic cases of acute gastroenteritis in western India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 236 fecal specimens consisting 192 specimens from hospitalized and 44 from OPD (outpatient department) children < or = 5 years of age were tested for the presence of norovirus genogroup (G)I and GII by RT-PCR followed by sequencing. Multiple alignment and phylogenetic analysis were carried out to determine the norovirus genetic types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Norovirus GII infection was detected in 11.9% (28/236) specimens. These included 24 of 192 (12.5%) specimens from hospitalized and 4 of 44 (9.0%) specimens from OPD cases. Nucleotide sequence based analysis of norovirus GII strains indicated circulation of GIIb strains at a significant level in hospitalized (12.5%) and OPD (75%) children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates the predominance of GII/4 (genogroup II/genotype 4) along with co-circulation of GII/1, GII/2, GII/3 and GIIb revealing the possibility of norovirus as the second most common cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis after rotavirus in western India. It also documents for the first time occurrence of norovirus GIIb infections in India.
authors.affiliation: Rotavirus Department, National Institute of Virology, Pune, India.
authors.forename: Preeti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chhabra
authors.forename: Shobha D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Chitambar
mesh_terms: D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral