Electropherotypes of rotavirus strains causing gastroenteritis in infants and young children in Tirana, Albania, from 1988 to 1991.

During 1988-1991, an epidemiological survey was conducted in Tirana (Albania) on group A rotavirus strains which cause gastroenteritis in infants and young children. Rotaviruses were detected in 312 of 1,241 (25.1%) examined specimens from children with acute diarrhoea. Viruses were detected throughout the study period. Among the 72 rotavirus strains tested for double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) electrophoretic migration pattern, 9 different electropherotypes were recognized, 1 of those being more frequent than the others. At the beginning and at the end of the examined period (1988 and 1990-1991) two different long electropherotypes were predominant, whereas in 1989 (middle period) short electropherotypes were common indicating an involvement of virus strains with short electropherotypes in hospitalization-requiring diarrhoeas occurring in the area surveyed in that year.