Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Jabriya, Kuwait.
J Med Virol. 2013 Sep;85(9):1611-8. doi: 10.1002/jmv.23645.
Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. The importance of this virus infection in Kuwait is not known. Eight out of 100 stool samples (8.0%) from children up to 5 years of age with gastroenteritis studied during 2006-2007 from one hospital, and 6 out of 70 stool samples (8.5%) from similar children studied from another hospital during 2010-2011 were positive for norovirus by RT-PCR. Out of these 170 samples studied from both hospitals, 10 samples were positive for norovirus when tested by ELISA. Phylogenetic tree analysis of norovirus strains showed that 50% of the norovirus strains belonged to genotype GII.4, and the predominant strain was GII.4 2006b. Other detected genotypes were GII.12, GII.b, GII.3, GII.8, and GII.7. This study highlights the importance of screening for norovirus infection in acute gastroenteritis and having a reporting system to understand better the epidemiology of norovirus infection in Kuwait.
诺如病毒是全球急性胃肠炎的主要病因。在科威特，这种病毒感染的重要性尚不清楚。在 2006 年至 2007 年期间，从一家医院的 100 名 5 岁以下患胃肠炎的儿童中，有 8 名（8.0%）粪便样本，以及在 2010 年至 2011 年期间从另一家医院的 70 名类似儿童中，有 6 名（8.5%）粪便样本通过 RT-PCR 检测出诺如病毒呈阳性。在这两家医院的 170 份样本中，有 10 份通过 ELISA 检测出诺如病毒呈阳性。对诺如病毒株的系统进化树分析表明，50%的诺如病毒株属于基因型 GII.4，主要流行株为 GII.4 2006b。其他检测到的基因型有 GII.12、GII.b、GII.3、GII.8 和 GII.7。本研究强调了在急性胃肠炎中筛查诺如病毒感染以及建立报告系统以更好地了解科威特诺如病毒感染的流行病学的重要性。
