[Preliminary study of human calicivirus infection in Guangzhou].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate of human calicivirus (HuCV) infection in the children of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province at China, and conduct preliminary study of the prevalence of the virus.

METHODS

Serum specimens from 266 children of different ages were tested by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for specific IgG against recombinant Norwalk virus particles (rNV), recombinant Mexico virus partides(rMX) and recombinat 387 Virus particles(r387), respectively, and fecal specimens were collected for detection of HuCV RNA using reverse transcriptional (RT)-PCR assisted by sequence analysis on the basis of comparison of the amplified product with the sequence entries in GenBank.

RESULTS

The seroprevalence was 68.0% for rNV, 51.5% for rMX and 71.1% for r387 in the cohort of children enrolled in this study. Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) were detected in 4 out of the 100 fecal specimens collected from cases of nonbacterial gastroenteritis during the peak season of diarrhea, and also in 3 of the 10 fecal specimens collected during the outbreak of diarrhea in an elementary school.

CONCLUSIONS

Sporadic and fulminant NLV infections are present in Guangzhou. The children have the infection in their infancy, and the infection rate increases sharply with age.