title: Relationship between GII.3 norovirus infections and blood group antigens in young children in Tunisia.
abstract: Noroviruses (NoVs) constitute a major cause of gastroenteritis in Tunisia. One hundred and fourteen matched saliva and stool samples were collected from children (n = 114) suffering from acute gastroenteritis at the hospital of Monastir during the winter season 2011-2012. For 98 of 114 children, blood samples were collected for secretor genotyping. NoVs were associated with 36.8% (n = 42/114) of the gastroenteritis cases. The GII.3 genotype was the most common (69% of all NoVs). For patients who were phenotyped (n = 114) for human blood group antigens (HBGAs), the secretor and non-secretor phenotypes represented 79% and 21%, respectively. Of the NoV infections, 83% were detected in all ABO groups. Five GII.3 isolates, one GII.1 isolate and one GII.7 isolate were detected in Lewis-positive non-secretors, confirmed by genotyping of the FUT2 gene. Even though our data showed that GII.3 NoVs could infect non-secretors, no binding was observed with saliva and GII.3 baculovirus-expressed virus-like particles from the same symptomatic non-secretor individual. This suggests that other factors might also participate in NoV attachment in children and newborns.
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France; Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biological Agents, Faculty of Pharmacy, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ayouni
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Estienney
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biological Agents, Faculty of Pharmacy, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sdiri-Loulizi
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ambert-Balay
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Rougemont
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Infection Control Unit, Public Hospital of Dijon, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aho
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, University Hospital Fattouma Bourguiba, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hammami
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biological Agents, Faculty of Pharmacy, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aouni
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Department, University Hospital Fattouma Bourguiba, Monastir, Tunisia.
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Guédiche
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pothier
authors.affiliation: National Reference Centre for Enteric Viruses, Public Hospital of Dijon, France. Electronic address: gael.belliot@u-bourgogne.fr.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Belliot
mesh_terms: D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D029322:Norovirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology; D053585:Virus Attachment
chemical_list: D001789:Blood Group Antigens
keywords: Children; HBGA; gastroenteritis; infection; norovirus; receptor