title: Epidemiological and clinical features of rotavirus among children younger than 5 years of age hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Northern Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rotavirus is the major cause of acute gastroenteritis and severe dehydrating diarrhea in young children.
  
  
  METHODS
  To estimate the proportion of hospital admissions for rotavirus acute gastroenteritis and identify the circulating G and P genotypes among children under five years of age, we conducted a prospective observational study from January to December 2008, recruiting children consecutively admitted to six hospitals in Milan and nearby towns in northern Italy. Typing was done on stool samples by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction amplification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 521 stool samples from children with acute gastroenteritis, 34.9% (95%CI, 30.8 to 39.2%) were rotavirus-positive. Two thirds (67.6%) were under two years of age, and 13.2% were under six months. The predominant G type was G1 (40.7%), followed by G9 (22.5%), G2 (13.2%), G3 (5.5%), G4 (3.8%) and G10 (1.6%). Twenty-one (11.7%) mixed-G infections were identified: G1+G10 (8.8%); G1+G9 (1.6%); and G2+G10 (1.2%). Only P[8] (67.6%) and P[4] (12.6%) types were P genotyped. The predominant single G/P combination was G1P[8] (39.7%), followed by G9P[8] (25.3%), G2P[4] (14.3%), and G3P[8] (4.1%). All G-mixed types combined with P[8].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings show an high prevalence of rotavirus infections among children admitted to hospital for acute gastroenteritis caused by different rotavirus strains circulating in the area studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Luigi Sacco Hospital, Università di Milano, Milan, Italy. gianvincenzo.zuccotti@unimi.it
authors.forename: Gianvincenzo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zuccotti
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meneghin
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dilillo
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Romanò
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bottone
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mantegazza
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giacchino
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Besana
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sterpa
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andreotti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Montrasio
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macchi
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavan
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paladini
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Radaelli
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral