title: [Molecular epidemiological study on norovirus among children with acute diarrhea in Guangzhou].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study molecular epidemiology of norovirus (NV) infections, stool specimens collected from children with acute diarrhea were tested by TaqMan real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the viral specific nucleic acid segments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fecal samples from a total of 1260 children who had watery diarrhea seen from December 2006 to December 2007 in Guangzhou were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The primers and probes used for rapid detection and typing of NV strain target NV sequences were at the ORF1-ORF2 junction, a highly conserved region of the NoV genome. The positive specimens were determined by nested PCR and sequenced.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 257 specimens were positive for NV with a positive rate of 20.40%. Shedding of NV type GI was detected in 6.90%, type GII in 16.98% respectively, while the positive number of mixed infection with GI and GII was 44. Of the NV strains that were cloned and sequenced, GI was GI-3, GI-2 and GI-4 detected in positive specimens respectively; meanwhile, GII-4 was most commonly seen in genome II, followed by GII-3 and GII-7. In addition, the average age of children infected with NV was less than 2 years. An epidemic occurred during the winter and early spring (December through the next March).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NV was one of the important pathogens for acute diarrhea among children in Guangzhou, which suggested GII-4 was the prevalent strain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Guangzhou Children's Hospital, Guangzhou 510120, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Jia-yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lan-lan
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Wen-ji
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: Si-tang
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Gong
mesh_terms: D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral