Acute gastroenteritis associated with rotavirus in adults.

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus (RV) is an important cause of acute infectious diarrhea in children all over the world. In adults, RV infection tends to be subclinical; however, outbreaks of gastroenteritis have been reported in emergency situations and in closed communities. The aim of this study was to characterize electrophoretically and antigenically the strains of rotavirus that caused acute gastroenteritis in adults and correlate them with the clinical manifestations. METHODS: A laboratory-based survey was carried out in which fecal samples from 44 patients over 18 years of age with acute gastroenteritis were studied. Polyacrylamide gels electrophoresis and immunoenzymatic assay with specific antibodies to group A rotavirus, serotypes G1-4, P1A, and P1B were carried out on all the samples. RESULTS: Twenty-eight (63.63%) of the 44 samples were positive for group A rotavirus. Of these, 19 (68%) had long pattern and nine (32%) short pattern. Of all positive samples, 15 (54%) were serotype G1, seven (25%) were G2, two (7%) were G4, and four (14%) had no monoclonal reaction; all were serotype P1A. Among the patients with RV infection, 13 (46.4%) required hospitalization and the remaining 15 (53.6%) showed moderate symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The strains that infected the adults were electrophoretically and antigenically the same as those that infected infants in Mérida, Yucatán over the last 10 years. No relationship between the severity of the symptoms and any specific serotype was found.

[Frequency of serotype G rotavirus isolated from children with diarrhea in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico]. / Frecuencia de serotipos G de rotavirus aislados de niños con diarrea en Mérida, Yucatán, México.

During a period of six years (1985-1990), rotavirus G serotypes were investigated in 104 fecal samples isolates according to an immune enzyme assay using specific monoclonal antibodies against serotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the VP7. The serotypes were established in 65 samples (62.5%) and could not be determined in 39 samples. In the 65 classified serotypes, 7 (6.7%) were found to belong to serotype 1, 23 (22.1%) to serotype 2, 12 (11.5%) to serotype 3, and 23 (22.1%) to serotype 4. The occurrence of the four serotypes during the six years was: serotype 3 was present in three of the six years; serotype 2 was detected in two epidemic outbreaks (1989 and 1990); serotype 3 appeared in the second year and was seen in the remainder of the study; and serotype 4 was present in the six years. We conclude that the four serotypes occur in our population and that future efforts to test the efficacy of any vaccine against this virus should evaluate a protective response against the four serotypes.