Epidemiology and HBGA-susceptibility investigation of a G9P[8] rotavirus outbreak in a school in Lechang, China

• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-020-04608-4
• Publication Date: 2020-04-06T18:03:51Z
• Authors: Lun-Ai Guo; Meng Zhang; Yu-zhen Hou; Haitao Hu; Ling Fang; Ming Tan; Qiong Huang; Hui Li; Li-Mei Sun; Xi Jiang; Wen-Fang Tan; Shixing Tang; Xu-Fu Zhang; Ying-Chun Dai
• Keywords: Male; Rotavirus; 0301 basic medicine; China; Adolescent; Genotype; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Rotavirus Infections; Disease Outbreaks; Gastroenteritis; 3. Good health; Feces; 03 medical and health sciences; Phenotype; Blood Group Antigens; Humans; Female; Saliva; Health Education

Rotaviruses cause severe gastroenteritis in infants, in which the viruses interact with human histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) as attachment and host susceptibility factors. While gastroenteritis outbreaks caused by rotaviruses are uncommon in adolescents, we reported here one that occurred in a middle school in China. Rectal swabs and saliva samples were collected from symptomatic and asymptomatic students, and samples were also collected from the environment. Using PCR, followed by DNA sequencing, a single G9P[8] rotavirus strain was identified as the causative agent. The attack rate of the outbreak was 13.5% for boarders, which was significantly higher than that of day students (1.8%). Person-to-person transmission was the most plausible transmission mode. The HBGA phenotypes of the individuals in the study were determined by enzyme immunoassay, using saliva samples, while recombinant VP8* protein of the causative rotavirus strain was produced for HBGA binding assays to evaluate the host susceptibility. Our data showed that secretor individuals had a significantly higher risk of infection than nonsecretors. Accordingly, the VP8* protein bound nearly all secretor saliva samples, but not those of nonsecretors, explaining the observed infection of secretor individuals only. This is the first single-outbreak-based investigation showing that P[8] rotavirus infected only secretors. Our investigation also suggests that health education of school students is an important countermeasure against an outbreak of communicable disease.