Molecular epidemiology of noroviruses in children and adults with acute gastroenteritis in Wuhan, China, 2007-2010

• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-012-1437-1
• Publication Date: 2012-08-10T15:32:56Z
• Authors: Yuan-Hong Wang; Dun-Jin Zhou; Xuan Zhou; Ting Yang; Souvik Ghosh; Bei-Bei Pang; Jin-Song Peng; Man-Qing Liu; Quan Hu; Nobumichi Kobayashi
• Keywords: Adult; Male; 0301 basic medicine; China; Molecular Epidemiology; 0303 health sciences; Adolescent; Incidence; Molecular Sequence Data; Norovirus; Genetic Variation; Infant; Middle Aged; Gastroenteritis; 3. Good health; Feces; 03 medical and health sciences; Child, Preschool; Humans; Female; Child; Phylogeny; Aged; Caliciviridae Infections

To study epidemiological features and genetic characteristics of noroviruses in children and adults with acute gastroenteritis, fecal specimens were collected in three hospitals from Jan. 2007 to May 2010 in Wuhan, China. Noroviruses were detected in 25.9 % (286/1103) and 24.6 % (202/822) of the specimens from children and adults, respectively, with genogroup II (GII) being predominant (99.2 %). The most frequent genotype among GII strains was GII.4 (2006b variant) (77.3 %) (72.0 % in children and 87.9 % in adults), followed by GII.3 (15.0 %) and GII.6 (3.4 %). Potential recombinant genotypes (polymerase/capsid) were detected in 51 GII strains (15.9 %), including the most frequent type, GII.12/GII.3 (28 strains), and GII.16/GII.2, detected for the first time in China, which were found in only children. The results indicated that genetically similar noroviruses were circulating among children and adults as a cause of gastroenteritis, except for some recombinant genotypes.