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Assays for the Specific Growth Rate and Cell-binding Ability of Rotavirus
Published on: January 28, 2019
Electrophoretic patterns of human rotavirus strains prevailing among hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis
S K Paul1, M U Ahmed, S Tabassum
1Department of Microbiology, Mymensingh Medical College.
Insights
Rotavirus infection affects nearly a quarter of young children in Bangladesh, with the highest rates in infants under one year old. Electropherotyping revealed diverse rotavirus strains, including common long patterns, and highlighted winter seasonality and mixed infections.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Molecular Biology
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe diarrheal disease in young children globally.
- Understanding the genetic diversity and epidemiological patterns of rotavirus is crucial for disease control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To detect rotavirus double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in children with acute diarrhea in Bangladesh.
- To characterize the electropherotypes and epidemiological features of rotavirus strains.
Main Methods:
- Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and silver staining were used to analyze rotavirus dsRNA from stool samples.
- 345 stool specimens from hospitalized children under 5 years old were tested.
- Electropherotypes were identified and categorized as long or short patterns.
Main Results:
- Rotavirus was detected in 24.9% of the tested stool specimens.
- Infection rates were highest in infants aged 0-12 months and decreased with age.
- Twelve distinct electropherotypes were identified, with long patterns (88.6%) predominating over short patterns (11.4%).
- Two long patterns (2F N 1 L, 2F N 3(U) L) were prevalent throughout the study period, with 2F N 1 L being the most common.
- Higher infection rates were observed in males and during winter months.
- Mixed electropherotypes were also detected.
Conclusions:
- Electropherotyping is a valuable tool for routine surveillance of rotavirus prevalence and epidemiology.
- The technique aids in studying genomic variation, identifying mixed infections, and characterizing rotavirus strains during outbreaks.
- Findings highlight the importance of age, season, and sex in rotavirus infection patterns in the studied region.
Abstract:
Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and silver staining was applied to detect rotavirus dsRNA from acute diarrheic stool of 365 hospitalized children below 5 years of age. The study was conducted at Mymensingh and Sunamgonj districts, Bangladesh from January 2002 to February 2003. Among 345 stool specimens tested, 86 (24.9%) were positive by PAGE. The rate of infection was highest in 0-12 months of age and declined significantly with increasing age. Males were slightly more infected than females and infection rate was more in winter. Twelve different electropherotypes were identified, of them eight were long and four were short. RNA profiles of the analyzed specimens, 88.6% were long and 11.4% were short patterns. Two of these long patterns (2F N 1 L, 2F N 3(U) L) circulated through out the study period and a single type was predominant (2F N 1 L). Mixed electropherotypes were also detected. Electropherotyping technique can be applied routinely to study the prevalence and epidemiological features of rotavirus infection. It is an excellent method for studying genomic variation, tracing mixed infections, detecting atypical rotaviruses lacking group-antigen and characterizing virus strains in outbreaks.
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