Emergence of the GII4/2006b variant and recombinant noroviruses in China.
Noroviruses are an important cause of acute gastroenteritis. Increasing data showed that the GII-4 strains are predominant worldwide and new GII-4 variants emerge every 1-2 years causing major epidemics. Surveillance of gastroenteritis in hospitalized children under 5 years of age in China is described. Among 1,110 specimens, 114 (10.3%) were positive for noroviruses, which was higher than adenoviruses (7.6%), astroviruses (3.5%), and sapoviruses (0.9%) and only lower than group A rotaviruses (40.6%). Thirty-eight of the 114 positive norovirus cases were co-infected with other enteric viruses. Five norovirus genotypes (GI-2, GI-4, GII-3, GII-4, and GII-14) were detected, with GII-4/2006b the most predominant type (64.9%). The reported recombinant of GII-3 capsid and GII-4 polymerase described previously was also detected frequently and a recombinant of GII-14 capsid and GII-6 polymerase was found for the first time. This study suggests that continual surveillance focusing on strain variation and dynamic change is important for understanding the epidemiology and development of a strategy for disease control and prevention.
Jin
Miao
M
National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
Xie
Hua-ping
HP
Duan
Zhao-jun
ZJ
Liu
Na
N
Zhang
Qing
Q
Wu
Bing-shan
BS
Li
Hui-ying
HY
Cheng
Wei-xia
WX
Yang
Su-hua
SH
Yu
Jie-mei
JM
Xu
Zi-qian
ZQ
Cui
Shu-xian
SX
Zhu
Lin
L
Tan
Ming
M
Jiang
Xi
X
Fang
Zhao-yin
ZY
D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D029322:Norovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
D012367:RNA, Viral