Genetic characterization of Canadian group A human rotavirus strains collected in multiple paediatric hospitals from 2007-2010

Abstract

Group A rotaviruses are a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in children. Almost all children are infected by the age of 5 years old. Rotavirus disease causes around 600,000 deaths per year. VP4 (P) and VP7 (G) genotypes were analyzed for prevalence and potential antigenicity, as they are known to elicit a neutralizing antibody response during infection. This study predicted the effectiveness of two recently licensed rotavirus vaccines based on Canadian surveillance. 271 out of 348 diarrhea samples from 8 paediatric hospital were successfully genotyped by PCR. Canadian rotavirus genotypes were found to be mostly G1P[8] followed by G3P[8], G2P[4], G9P[8], G4P[8], and G9P[4], between 2007 and 2010. Reassortment and motif analysis was done with a subset of rotavirus-positive samples. There were no unusual reassortment events found in Canadian strains. Variations amongst strains were commonly genotype-specific, but otherwise rare. In conclusion, rotavirus vaccine escape is presently unlikely amongst Canadian strains.