Clinical severity and molecular characteristics of circulating and emerging rotaviruses in young children attending hospital emergency departments in France.
Group A rotavirus (RVA) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. A prospective surveillance network has been set up to investigate the virological and clinical features of RVA infections and to detect the emergence of potentially epidemic strains in France. From 2009 to 2014, RVA-positive stool samples were collected from 4800 children <5 years old attending the paediatric emergency units of 16 large hospitals. Rotaviruses were then genotyped by RT-PCR with regard to their outer capsid proteins VP4 and VP7. Genotyping of 4708 RVA showed that G1P[8] strains (62.2%) were predominant. The incidence of G9P[8] (11.5%), G3P[8] (10.4%) and G2P[4] (6.6%) strains varied considerably, whereas G4P[8] (2.7%) strains were circulating mostly locally. Of note, G12P[8] (1.6%) strains emerged during the seasons 2011-12 and 2012-13 with 4.1% and 3.0% prevalence, respectively. Overall, 40 possible zoonotic reassortants, such as G6 (33.3%) and G8 (15.4%) strains, were detected, and were mostly associated with P[6] (67.5%). Analysis of clinical records of 624 hospitalized children and severity scores from 282 of them showed no difference in clinical manifestations or severity in relation to the genotype. The relative stability of RVA genotypes currently co-circulating and the large predominance of P[8] type strains may ensure vaccine effectiveness in France. The surveillance will continue to monitor the emergence of new reassortants that might not respond to current vaccines, all the more so as all genotypes can cause severe infections in infants.
Centre National de Référence des virus entériques, Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU de Dijon, France; UFR des Sciences de Santé, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. Electronic address: alexis.de-rougemont@u-bourgogne.fr.
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de Rougemont
Centre National de Référence des virus entériques, Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU de Dijon, France.
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J
Kaplon
Centre National de Référence des virus entériques, Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU de Dijon, France.
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C
Fremy
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Brest, France.
M-C
MC
Legrand-Guillien
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Brest, France.
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Minoui-Tran
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Brest, France.
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C
Payan
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Caen, France.
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A
Vabret
Centre Hospitalier de Charleville-Mézières, France.
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L
Mendes-Martins
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon, France.
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M
Chouchane
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon, France.
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R
Maudinas
UFR des Sciences de Santé, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon, France.
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Huet
Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, France.
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F
Dubos
Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, France.
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D
Hober
Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, France.
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M
Lazrek
Groupement des Hôpitaux de l'Institut Catholique de Lille, France.
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C
Bouquignaud
Groupement des Hôpitaux de l'Institut Catholique de Lille, France.
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A
Decoster
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Limoges, France.
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S
Alain
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Limoges, France.
J
J
Languepin
Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
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Y
Gillet
Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
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B
Lina
Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
Y
Y
Mekki
Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
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F
Morfin-Sherpa
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Orléans, France.
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A
Guigon
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Orléans, France.
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J
Guinard
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, France.
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V
Foulongne
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, France.
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M
Rodiere
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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V
Avettand-Fenoel
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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S
Bonacorsi
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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A
Garbarg-Chenon
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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D
Gendrel
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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Lebon
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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M
Lorrot
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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Mariani
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
J-F
JF
Meritet
Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, France.
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A
Schnuriger
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, France.
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G
Agius
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, France.
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A
Beby-Defaux
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Poitiers, France.
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D
Oriot
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France.
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R
Colimon
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France.
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G
Lagathu
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Etienne, France.
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O
Mory
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Etienne, France.
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S
Pillet
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Etienne, France.
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B
Pozzetto
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Etienne, France.
J-L
JL
Stephan
Service d'Hygiène Hospitalière, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Dijon, France.
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Aho
Centre National de Référence des virus entériques, Laboratoire de Virologie, CHU de Dijon, France; UFR des Sciences de Santé, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
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Pothier
D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D016865:Reassortant Viruses; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D012621:Seasons; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
Acute gastroenteritis; Diarrhoea; Emerging rotavirus; Genotyping; Rotavirus; Severity