RESUMO
Aichi viruses (AiV) have been detected in patients with diarrheal diseases (DD). The aim of this study was to assess AiV infection rates in hospitalized children with DD, including 123 HIV-1 seropositive and 125 HIV-1 seronegative patients, in two public pediatric hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AiV was investigated by nested RT-PCR. The AiV-positive samples were also tested for specie A rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, enteric adenovirus and bocavirus in order to assess co-infections. AiV parcial genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses were performed. AiV were detected in 9/123 (7.32%) of the HIV-1 seropositive subjects and 1/125 (0.8%) of the HIV seronegative patients with DD (p = 0.019). The phylogenetic analysis of positive samples disclosed that: i) 13 samples were characterized as genotype A, with one of them being from the HIV-1 seronegative patient; ii) one sample from a HIV-1 seropositive patient was characterized as genotype B. AiV genotype A was grouped into 3 genetic clusters. Data suggest that AiV may be an opportunistic pathogen infecting children with AIDS and DD.