Han Yanzhen, Lei Yue, Zhuang Zhichao, Guo Liru, Li Xiaoyan
Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Institute of Microbiology, Tianjin, China.
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology of Infectious Disease, Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Tianjin, China.
J Med Virol. 2024 Dec;96(12):e70124. doi: 10.1002/jmv.70124.
Rubella is listed as a disease that needs to be eliminated worldwide by the World Health Organization. This study aimed to investigate rubella epidemiology and genetic characteristics based on data from 12 years of laboratory-based surveillance (2009-2020) in Tianjin and to provide baseline genotype data for monitoring future rubella control efforts. We collected RV-positive throat swab samples from confirmed rubella cases during 2009-2020 in Tianjin to isolate RV, amplify and sequence target gene fragments, construct phylogenetic trees, and analyze nucleotide homologies. Four rubella isolates were chosen for whole genome sequencing. The epidemiological data of rubella cases were collected to describe and analyze the epidemiological characteristics of the rubella outbreak. Most cases (87.6%) occurred between March and June, and the peak incidence was observed in May. The age of the reported rubella cases ranged from almost 1 month to 82 years, most were between 10 and 29 years old (83.3%). Almost half (48.3%) of the confirmed rubella cases were from just four districts (Beichen District, Binhai New Area, Hebei District, and Nankai District). A total of 211 rubella virus strains were obtained during 2009-2020, phylogenetic analyses identified four lineages, including 1E-L1, 1E-L2, 2B-L1, and 2B-L2c, with high homologies of nucleotide sequences compared with RV strains from other provinces of China. Recombination analysis indicated that strain RVi/Tianjin.CHN/37.19/1 a possible recombination strain by 7 analysis methods, with p-values of 4.993 × 10-2.922 × 10. Our study provided comprehensive data on rubella epidemiology and the first information on rubella genotypes in Tianjin. Clear evidence of recombination was found, indicating that RV has the potential to continually mutate, so close monitoring of the genetic variations of wild-type rubella virus strains is necessary. Rubella viruses were highly conserved at the genomic level, the incidence of rubella in Tianjin, as well as in China, has sustains at a low level, which gives us the idea that the rubella control and elimination goal could be achieved in the near future if strengthened RV surveillance continues and vaccine immunization coverage maintaining at the high level.
风疹被世界卫生组织列为全球需要消除的疾病。本研究旨在基于天津12年（2009 - 2020年）实验室监测数据，调查风疹流行病学和基因特征，为监测未来风疹防控工作提供基线基因型数据。我们收集了2009 - 2020年天津确诊风疹病例的风疹病毒（RV）阳性咽拭子样本，用于分离RV、扩增和测序目标基因片段、构建系统发育树以及分析核苷酸同源性。选择4株风疹病毒分离株进行全基因组测序。收集风疹病例的流行病学数据，以描述和分析风疹疫情的流行病学特征。大多数病例（87.6%）发生在3月至6月之间，5月观察到发病高峰。报告的风疹病例年龄范围从近1个月到82岁，大多数为10至29岁（83.3%）。几乎一半（48.3%）的确诊风疹病例仅来自四个区（北辰区、滨海新区、河北区和南开区）。2009 - 2020年共获得211株风疹病毒株，系统发育分析确定了四个谱系，包括1E - L1、1E - L2、2B - L1和2B - L2c，与中国其他省份的RV株相比，核苷酸序列具有高度同源性。重组分析表明，菌株RVi/Tianjin.CHN/37.19/1通过7种分析方法可能是重组菌株，p值为4.993×10 - 2.922×10。我们的研究提供了风疹流行病学的综合数据以及天津风疹基因型的首个信息。发现了明确的重组证据，表明RV有持续变异的潜力，因此有必要密切监测野生型风疹病毒株的基因变异。风疹病毒在基因组水平上高度保守，天津以及中国的风疹发病率一直维持在较低水平，这使我们认为，如果继续加强风疹病毒监测并保持疫苗免疫接种的高覆盖率，在不久的将来可以实现风疹控制和消除目标。
