Detection and characterization of rotaviruses in hospitalized neonates in Blantyre, Malawi

In five separate fecal collections spanning three years, group A rotaviruses were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 35 (25%) of 142 specimens obtained from nondiarrheic, hospitalized neonates in Blantyre, Malawi. Molecular characterization of each strain identified, for the first time in neonates, a short electropherotype, genotype P[6], G8 strain type, similar to the dominant, cocirculating community strain detected in symptomatic infants in Blantyre. Partial sequence analysis of the VP4 and NSP4 genes of neonatal and community strains failed to identify changes which could explain the differences in clinical outcome. Neonatal serotype G8 rotaviruses should be considered as potential rotavirus vaccine candidates for use in Malawi.