title: Molecular Epidemiology of Human Norovirus in Korea in 2013.
abstract: Norovirus is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis. The molecular epidemiology of norovirus exhibits temporal and geographical fluctuations, and new variants of the GII.4 genotype emerge every 2-3 years to cause global epidemics of acute gastroenteritis. We investigated GI and GII genotypes of human norovirus strains isolated from patients with acute gastroenteritis in Korea in 2013. Norovirus antigen test was performed on 2,980 fecal specimens from January to December 2013. RNA was extracted from norovirus antigen-positive fecal suspensions, and the norovirus capsid (VP1) and polymerase (RdRp) genes were characterized by RT-PCR and sequencing. Of the 230 genotyped strains, GII.4 (77.3%) was the most frequently observed capsid genotype, followed by GII.3 (6.1%) and GII.13 (3.9%). A norovirus GII.4 variant, GII.Pe/GII.4 Sydney 2012, was the most frequently found polymerase/capsid genotype (65.7%), followed by GII.P17/GII.17 (2.1%) and GII.P21/GII.3 (2.1%). Phylogenetic, similarity, and capsid epitope analyses of GII.Pe/GII.4 Sydney 2012 strains were performed. We concluded that the norovirus GII.4 variant, GII.Pe/GII.4 Sydney 2012, was the main cause of norovirus-related gastroenteritis in Korea in 2013.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, 7 Keunjaebong-gil, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 445-170, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, 7 Keunjaebong-gil, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 445-170, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, 7 Keunjaebong-gil, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 445-170, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jungwon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hyun
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, 7 Keunjaebong-gil, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 445-170, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Han-Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, 7 Keunjaebong-gil, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 445-170, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Wonkeun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D001483:Base Sequence; D017250:Caliciviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D029322:Norovirus / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D014764:Viral Proteins