Seroepidemiology of human group C rotavirus in Japan based on a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

A novel blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (BL-ELISA) was developed for detection of antibodies to human group C rotavirus (CHRV). The specificity of the BL-ELISA was confirmed by using animal sera hyperimmunized to group A and group C rotaviruses and paired sera from five patients with acute CHRV gastroenteritis. Furthermore, there was concordance between the BL-ELISA and a neutralization assay for CHRV in 226 (95%) of 238 samples. By using the BL-ELISA, we determined the seroprevalence of CHRV in 704 serum samples obtained from nine different age groups of inhabitants of Okayama Prefecture, Japan, in 1992, 1994, and 1996. As a result, 211 sera (30%) were found to be positive for CHRV antibodies. The seroprevalence gradually increased with age and reached 52.7% in the oldest individuals. A further analysis of the youngest age group suggested that CHRVs predominantly prevail in persons older than 3 years of age in Japan. When comparing the three sampling years, a larger percentage of antibody-positive sera was detected in 1994 than in either 1992 or 1996 in individuals between 6 and 15 years of age, reflecting the occurrence of a CHRV outbreak among children during the winter of 1992 to 1993 that was previously documented. These results indicate that CHRV infections may occur more frequently in spite of the relatively low detection rate of the virus.