Rotavirus RNA variation during chronic infection of immunocompromised children

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was performed on RNA from rotaviruses isolated from two immunocompromised patients with prolonged rotavirus diarrhea. Extensive variations were observed in the genomes of rotaviruses isolated from each patient during a 16-week period of their illness. An animal model of rotavirus infection was used to help evaluate the results found in our patients. Individual mouse rotavirus strains were found to be stable during serial passage, but individual animals could be coinfected with more than one viral strain. The changes found in the rotavirus RNA from our patients possibly represented reinfection by different viral strains. Appropriate precautions should be observed to prevent such reinfections in immunocompromised patients.