title: Molecular and clinical characterization of rotavirus from diarrheal infants admitted to pediatric emergency units in france.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  rotaviruses are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide, and require careful surveillance, especially in the context of vaccination programs. Prospective surveillance is required to monitor and characterize rotavirus infections, including viral and clinical data, and to detect the emergence of potentially epidemic strains.
  
  
  METHODS
  between 2006 and 2009, stool samples and clinical records were collected from 2044 children with acute diarrhea admitted to the pediatric emergency units of 13 French university hospitals. Rotaviruses were detected in stools, then genotyped by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with regard to their outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the genotyping of 1947 rotaviruses showed that G1 (61.7%) and G9 (27.4%) strains were predominant and stable, followed by G2 (6.5%), G3 (4.0%), and G4 (2.5%) strains. Most strains were associated with P[8] (92.9%). Overall, 31 uncommon strains and possible zoonotic reassortants were detected including G12 and G8 strains, some being closely related to bovine strains. No difference in clinical presentation and severity was found among genotypes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the relative stability of rotavirus genotypes currently cocirculating in France may ensure vaccine effectiveness in the short and medium term. However, the likely emergence of G12 and G8 strains should be monitored during ongoing and future vaccination programs, especially as all genotypes can cause severe infections. Special attention should be paid to the emergence of new rotavirus reassortants not included in current rotavirus vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Dijon, France. alexis.de-rougemont@chu-dijon.fr
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Rougemont
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaplon
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillet
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mory
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gagneur
authors.forename: Adissa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minoui-Tran
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Meritet
authors.forename: Claudine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mollat
authors.forename: Mathie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lorrot
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Foulongne
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gillet
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nguyen-Bourgain
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alain
authors.forename: Gérard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agius
authors.forename: Mouna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lazrek
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Colimon
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fontana
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gendrel
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pothier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002417:Cattle; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006760:Hospitalization; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus