Foley B, O'Mahony J, Morgan S M, Hill C, Morgan J G
Department of Microbiology, University College, Cork, Ireland.
J Clin Virol. 2000 Aug;17(2):109-17. doi: 10.1016/s1386-6532(00)00083-4.
'Norwalk-like viruses' (NLV) and astroviruses are recognised as the most important etiologic agents of viral gastroenteritis, excluding rotaviruses. However, neither of these two groups of viruses is routinely screened for in Irish hospital laboratories.
The objective of this study was to examine faeces collected from patients with non-bacterial, non-rotaviral gastroenteritis and examine if NLVs and astroviruses could be identified as the causative agents of the illness.
Faecal specimens were collected from a single Irish hospital from February 1996 to June 1998. Three hundred and sixty samples were tested for the presence of NLVs using newly designed inosine-containing degenerate primers. Two hundred and three faecal specimens from paediatric patients were screened for the presence of astroviruses.
the results of the screening study were that 29 (8%) specimens were found to be positive for NLV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and 15 (7%) specimens from paediatric patients were found to be positive for astroviruses. Genotyping of the NLV-positive samples determined that four of the isolates were from genotype I (G1) and 25 were G2. The G2 positive specimens were further subtyped by oligonucleotide probing and the majority (n = 21) were found to be subtype P2-B, with four isolates being typed as P2-A. No P1-B isolates were found.
This is the first report of detection of sporadic cases of NLV and astrovirus in Ireland. The results obtained highlight the need for continued surveillance of these viruses and the development of rapid detection systems for use in clinical laboratories.
“诺如样病毒”（NLV）和星状病毒被认为是除轮状病毒外病毒性肠胃炎最重要的病原体。然而，爱尔兰医院实验室并未对这两类病毒进行常规筛查。
本研究的目的是检测从非细菌性、非轮状病毒性肠胃炎患者采集的粪便，检查是否能鉴定出NLV和星状病毒为此类疾病的病原体。
从1996年2月至1998年6月期间一所爱尔兰医院采集粪便样本。使用新设计的含次黄苷的简并引物对360份样本检测NLV的存在情况。对203份儿科患者的粪便样本筛查星状病毒的存在情况。
筛查研究结果显示，通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）发现29份（8%）样本NLV呈阳性，15份（7%）儿科患者样本星状病毒呈阳性。对NLV阳性样本进行基因分型确定，4株分离株属于I型（G1），25株为G2型。通过寡核苷酸探针杂交对G2阳性样本进一步分型，发现大多数（n = 21）为P2-B亚型，4株分离株为P2-A型。未发现P1-B分离株。
这是爱尔兰首次检测到散发性NLV和星状病毒病例的报告。所获结果凸显持续监测这些病毒以及开发用于临床实验室的快速检测系统的必要性。
