Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2020 Jun 25;15(6):e0235280. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235280. eCollection 2020.
Rotavirus infection is the most common cause of viral diarrhea in infants and young children but uncommon and usually asymptomatic in adults. In the winter of 2017-2018, a large-scale outbreak of rotavirus in both children and adults was reported in Thailand. The current study focused on the prevalence, genotyping, and molecular characterization of rotavirus infections in Thai adults from July 2016 to December 2019. In 2,598 stool samples collected from adult residents of Bangkok (aged #x2265; 15 years) with acute gastroenteritis, rotavirus was detected via real-time RT-PCR analysis of the VP6 gene. G, P and I genotypes were determined by direct sequencing of VP7, VP4, and VP6 genes, respectively. Our results showed 8.7% (226/2,598) of stool samples were positive for rotavirus. The incidence of rotavirus was high during the winter season of 2017-2018 (17.7%) compared to another studied periods (4.5% between July 2016- October 2017 and 2.8% between March 2018- December 2019). Nucleotide sequencing of VP7 and VP4 revealed G3P[8] as the predominant strain (33.2%,75/226), followed by G9P[8] (17.3%,39/226), and G2P[4] (15.0%,34/226). Uncommon G and P combinations were additionally detected at low frequencies. VP6 sequencing was conducted to discriminate I genotype between the Wa and DS-1 genogroup. The unusual DS-1-like G3P[8] strain was most prevalent amomg rotavirus strains detected in this study (29.6%, 67/226), and the corresponding VP7 sequences showed high nucleotide identity with unusual DS-1-like globally circulating strains. Our study demonstrates that rotavirus outbreaks in adults are attributable not only to high prevalence of RV infection but also the unusual DS-like genogroup. The collective findings reinforce the importance of investigating rotavirus diagnosis in adults suffering from acute gastroenteritis and taking appropriate preventive measures.
轮状病毒感染是婴幼儿病毒性腹泻最常见的原因，但在成年人中少见且通常无症状。2017-2018 年冬季，泰国报告了一起儿童和成人大规模轮状病毒爆发。本研究主要关注 2016 年 7 月至 2019 年 12 月泰国成年人中轮状病毒感染的流行率、基因分型和分子特征。通过实时 RT-PCR 分析 VP6 基因，从曼谷成年居民（年龄 #x2265; 15 岁）的 2598 份急性胃肠炎粪便样本中检测到轮状病毒。通过直接测序 VP7、VP4 和 VP6 基因分别确定 G、P 和 I 基因型。我们的结果显示，2598 份粪便样本中有 8.7%（226/2598）为轮状病毒阳性。2017-2018 年冬季（17.7%）轮状病毒的发病率高于另外两个研究期间（2016 年 7 月至 10 月为 4.5%，2018 年 3 月至 12 月为 2.8%）。VP7 和 VP4 的核苷酸测序显示 G3P[8]为主要株（33.2%，75/226），其次是 G9P[8]（17.3%，39/226）和 G2P[4]（15.0%，34/226）。还以低频率检测到罕见的 G 和 P 组合。进行 VP6 测序以区分 Wa 和 DS-1 基因型。在本研究中检测到的轮状病毒株中，罕见的 DS-1 样 G3P[8]株最为流行（29.6%，67/226），相应的 VP7 序列与全球流行的罕见 DS-1 样株具有高核苷酸同一性。我们的研究表明，成年人中轮状病毒爆发不仅归因于 RV 感染的高流行率，还归因于罕见的 DS 样基因群。这些综合发现强调了对急性胃肠炎成年患者进行轮状病毒诊断并采取适当预防措施的重要性。
