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Updated: Oct 3, 2025
Detection and Genogrouping of Noroviruses from Children's Stools By Taqman One-step RT-PCR
Published on: July 22, 2012
Sapovirus, Norovirus and Rotavirus Detections in Stool Samples of Hospitalized Finnish Children With and Without
Oskari Pitkänen1, Jukka Markkula1,2, Maria Hemming-Harlo2,3
1From the Vaccine Research Center.
Insights
Common childhood gastroenteritis viruses like sapovirus, norovirus, and rotavirus are frequently found in asymptomatic children. These children may act as reservoirs, spreading infections within the community.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
Background:
- Sapovirus, norovirus, and rotavirus are leading causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children worldwide.
- The prevalence and role of asymptomatic infections by these enteric viruses remain understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence and genetic diversity of sapovirus, norovirus, and rotavirus in children with and without AGE symptoms.
- To assess the potential for asymptomatic carriers to act as reservoirs for these viral pathogens.
Main Methods:
- Collected 999 stool samples from children under 16 in Finland (2009-2011).
- Categorized children into acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) groups.
- Utilized reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and sequencing to detect and analyze viral strains.
Main Results:
- Overall positivity rates were 54% in AGE and 14% in ARTI groups.
- Norovirus, rotavirus, and sapovirus were significantly more prevalent in children with AGE compared to those with ARTI.
- Norovirus GII was dominant; sapovirus showed no predominant genotype; rotavirus strains were often vaccine-derived, especially in ARTI patients.
Conclusions:
- Common gastroenteritis viruses can be present in asymptomatic children.
- Asymptomatic carriers may serve as a significant reservoir for the transmission of acute gastroenteritis in pediatric populations.
Background:
Sapovirus, norovirus and rotavirus are major causes of childhood acute gastroenteritis (AGE) globally. Asymptomatic infections of these viruses have not been extensively studied.
Aim:
To examine the prevalence and the genetic variations of sapovirus, norovirus and rotavirus in children with and without symptoms of AGE.
Methods:
We collected 999 stool samples from children under 16 years old from September 2009 to August 2011 at Tampere University Hospital, Finland. In total 442 children (44%) had symptoms of AGE and 557 patients (56%) had acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI) only. Samples were examined for sapovirus, norovirus and rotavirus using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and the positive amplicons were sequenced.
Results:
Totally 54% and 14% of the patients in AGE and ARTI groups, respectively, tested positive. All viruses were more frequently detected in AGE patients than in ARTI patients (norovirus, 25% vs. 7.2%, respectively; rotavirus, 24% vs. 6.1%; sapovirus, 5.2% vs. 1.4%). In ARTI patients, the cases were seen most frequently during the first two years of life. Norovirus was the most detected pathogen in both groups with genogroup GII covering ≥97% of norovirus strains. Sapovirus was mostly detected in children under 18 months old without predominating genotype. Rotavirus was often detected after recent rotavirus vaccination and 18% and 88% of the strains were rotavirus vaccine-derived in AGE and ARTI groups, respectively.
Conclusions:
We showed that the most common viruses causing gastroenteritis in children may be found in the stools of an asymptomatic carrier which may function as a potential reservoir for AGE.
