ABSTRACT
An outbreak of severe gastroenteritis affecting 132 adults and children occurred in the small city of Mirassol, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1992. The outbreak of diarrhoeal disease had an abrupt onset and afflicted all age segments of the population. Group A rotavirus was the only pathogen associated with the epidemic. It was detected in 12 of the 27 (44%) stool specimens analyzed and was identified as serotype G2 rotavirus. Severe dehydration was common among adults and older children, and 35% of all the notified cases were hospitalized for parenteral rehydration. Contamination of the main water supply was the most likely source.
Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks , Gastroenteritis/epidemiology , Rotavirus Infections/epidemiology , Rotavirus/isolation & purification , Adolescent , Adult , Antibodies, Viral/analysis , Brazil/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Diarrhea/virology , Feces/virology , Gastroenteritis/therapy , Gastroenteritis/virology , Humans , Infant , Length of Stay , Middle Aged , Polymerase Chain Reaction , RNA, Viral/analysis , Radioimmunoassay , Retrospective Studies , Rotavirus/genetics , Rotavirus/immunology , Rotavirus Infections/transmission , Rotavirus Infections/virology , Water MicrobiologyABSTRACT
Rotavirus strains belonging to G types 1 to 4 and having a P3 genotype (M37-like VP4) were recovered from children with symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. Partial sequences of their VP4 genes were determined in an attempt to characterize these strains further. The genomic regions encoding VP8*, the connecting and putative fusion peptides and three other regions in VP5* were sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences were compared with rotavirus strains belonging to different P genotypes that had been previously reported. High degrees of identity were found between the VP8* fragment of all human P3 strains (92.7 to 99.7%) suggesting that they belong to the same genotype, regardless of differences in their virulence. Furthermore, based on comparative sequence analysis, we did not identify any amino acid(s) that differ appreciably between symptomatic and asymptomatic strains and could therefore be associated with virulence. The results suggest that the P3 genotype, although frequently associated with asymptomatic infections, may not be the single determining factor in attenuation of symptoms.
Subject(s)
Capsid/genetics , Genes, Viral/genetics , Rotavirus Infections/microbiology , Rotavirus/genetics , Viral Structural Proteins/genetics , Amino Acid Sequence , Base Sequence , Brazil , Capsid/chemistry , Capsid Proteins , Child, Preschool , Cross Infection , Diarrhea/microbiology , Genotype , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Molecular Sequence Data , Paris , Rotavirus/classification , Rotavirus/pathogenicity , Sequence Homology, Amino Acid , United States , VirulenceABSTRACT
Rotavirus serotype G5 in fecal specimens of 38 Brazilian children with diarrhea was identified by PCR and enzyme immunoassays. The strains exhibited long RNA electropherotypes and either subgroup II or nonsubgroup I-nonsubgroup II specificities. Serotype G5 has been found in piglets and horses but not yet in humans.
