title: Surveillance of pathogens in outpatients with gastroenteritis and characterization of sapovirus strains between 2002 and 2007 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.
abstract: Infectious acute gastroenteritis is an important public health problem worldwide. A total of 639 stool specimens were tested for the presence of diarrhea pathogens. The specimens were from outpatients with acute gastroenteritis who consulted the pediatric clinic in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, from June 2002 to December 2007. Of these, 421 (65.9%) were positive for diarrhea pathogens. Among them were norovirus (NoV) in 260 (61.8%), sapovirus (SaV) in 81 (19.2%), rotavirus in 49 (11.6%), adenovirus in 19 (4.5%), enterovirus in 13 (3.1%), astrovirus in 9 (2.1%), kobuvirus in 1 (0.2%), and bacterial pathogens in 11 (2.6%). Mixed infection (co-infection of viruses) was found in 22 (5.2%) of the 421 pathogen-positive stool samples. NoV was the most prevalent pathogen throughout the study period; however, the SaV detection rate was unexpectedly high and was found to be the secondary pathogen from 2005 to 2007. Genetic analysis of SaV with 81 strains demonstrated that SaV strains belonging to genogroup IV emerged in 2007, and dynamic genogroup changes occurred in a restricted geographic area. This study showed that SaV infection is not as rare as thought previously.
authors.affiliation: Kumamoto Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: Mineyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Shunsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yahiro
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miyasaka
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikezawa
authors.forename: Kuniko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinozaki
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Takaji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakita
authors.forename: Naokazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Tomoichiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010045:Outpatients; D015995:Prevalence; D029341:Sapovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D055815:Young Adult