title: Rotavirus genotypes in sewage treatment plants and in children hospitalized with acute diarrhea in Italy in 2010 and 2011.
abstract: Although the molecular surveillance network RotaNet-Italy provides useful nationwide data on rotaviruses causing severe acute gastroenteritis in children in Italy, scarce information is available on rotavirus circulation in the general Italian population, including adults with mild or asymptomatic infection. We investigated the genotypes of rotaviruses present in urban wastewaters and compared them with those of viral strains from clinical pediatric cases. During 2010 and 2011, 285 sewage samples from 4 Italian cities were tested by reverse transcription-PCRs (RT-PCRs) specific for rotavirus VP7 and VP4 genes. Rotavirus was detected in 172 (60.4%) samples, 26 of which contained multiple rotavirus G (VP7 gene) genotypes, for a total of 198 G types. Thirty-two samples also contained multiple P (VP4 gene) genotypes, yielding 204 P types in 172 samples. Genotype G1 accounted for 65.6% of rotaviruses typed, followed by genotypes G2 (20.2%), G9 (7.6%), G4 (4.6%), G6 (1.0%), G3 (0.5%), and G26 (0.5%). VP4 genotype P[8] accounted for 75.0% of strains, genotype P[4] accounted for 23.0% of strains, and the uncommon genotypes P[6], P[9], P[14], and P[19] accounted for 2.0% of strains altogether. These rotavirus genotypes were also found in pediatric patients hospitalized in the same areas and years but in different proportions. Specifically, genotypes G2, G9, and P[4] were more prevalent in sewage samples than among samples from patients, which suggests either a larger circulation of the latter strains through the general population not requiring medical care or their greater survival in wastewaters. A high level of nucleotide identity in the G1, G2, and G6 VP7 sequences was observed between strains from the environment and those from patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunobiologicals Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonomo
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ianiro
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunobiologicals Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Battistone
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunobiologicals Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delogu
authors.affiliation: Osservatorio Epidemiologico Regione Puglia, Bari, Italy University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Germinario
authors.affiliation: Osservatorio Epidemiologico Regione Puglia, Bari, Italy University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chironna
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Triassi
authors.affiliation: Ospedale Santobono-Pausilipon, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Campagnuolo
authors.affiliation: AMAP SpA Impianto Depurazione Acqua dei Corsari, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cicala
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother and Child Care, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Giammanco
authors.affiliation: University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castiglia
authors.affiliation: University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunobiologicals Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaggioli
authors.affiliation: National Center for Immunobiologicals Research and Evaluation, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy lucia.fiore@iss.it.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiore
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002947:Cities; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000821:virology*; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; 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 / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012722:Sewage / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012722:Sewage; C060339:VP4 protein, Rotavirus; C050779:VP7 protein, Rotavirus