Indirect impact of rotavirus vaccination on viral causes of acute gastroenteritis in the elderly.
J Clin Virol
; 137: 104780, 2021 04.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33647802
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Rotavirus is considered a childhood infection causing acute gastroenteritis however, it also causes disease in adults which may be underestimated due to less frequent testing in this age-group.OBJECTIVES:
To determine if paediatric rotavirus vaccination, introduced into Ireland in December 2016, affected the viral aetiology in those aged ≥65 yrs presenting with gastroenteritis in the pre- and post-vaccination years. Additionally, rotavirus genotypes in this age-group will be described.METHODS:
Faecal samples from 2015 to 2019 for the investigation of gastroenteritis were tested by real-time (RT-) PCR for norovirus, adenovirus, rotavirus, Rotarix, astrovirus and sapovirus. Rotaviruses were genotyped by multiplex real-time RT-PCR or hemi-nested RT-PCR and a proportion confirmed by sequencing.RESULTS:
22,593 samples from adults aged ≥65 yrs were tested and 2566 (11 %) had ≥1 virus detected. Of 2566 positive samples, norovirus was detected in 82 %, rotavirus 9 %, sapovirus 6 %, astrovirus 3 % and adenovirus 1 %. Rotavirus and norovirus infections decreased between pre and post-vaccine year groups p < 0.001, whereas sapovirus, astrovirus and adenovirus remained unchanged. Between 2015-16 and 2018-19, G2P[4] increased and G4P[8] decreased, p < 0.001. In 2015-2019 there were 37 rotavirus outbreaks. Five geriatric outbreaks were genotyped and caused by G4P[8] (n = 1), G1P[8] (n = 1), G2P[4] (n = 2) and G12P[8] (n = 1).CONCLUSION:
Rotavirus causes acute gastroenteritis in older people. Paediatric vaccination may have contributed to a decline in infections in the elderly; nevertheless, rotavirus continued to circulate in older people following vaccine introduction. Genotype distribution changed between the pre- and post-vaccine era however genotypes in outbreak and endemic settings were comparable.Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Rotavirus Infections
/
Rotavirus
/
Norovirus
/
Gastroenteritis
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
Limits:
Aged
/
Child
/
Humans
/
Infant
Language:
En
Year:
2021
Type:
Article