Prevalence and Genotype Distribution of Group A Rotavirus Circulating in Shanxi Province, China During 2015-2019
Abstract Background: Group A rotavirus (RVA), despite being a leading cause of gastroenteritis in infants and young children, is less studied in Shanxi Province, China. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence and genetic characterization of RVA in hospitalized children under ten years old with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis in Shanxi Province, China. Methods: A hospital-based active surveillance of rotavirus gastroenteritis was conducted at Children’s Hospital of Shanxi from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2019. Rotavirus was detected in stool samples by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). G and P genotypes were determined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and nucleotide sequencing. Results:A total of 961 archived stool specimens was examined, 183 (19.0%) were positive for RVA. The highest RVA-infection frequency (23.7%) was found among children aged 12–23 months, and the seasonal peak was in December. G9P[8] was most prevalent (76.0%), followed by G3P[8] (7.1 %), G2P[4] (3.3 %), G1P[8] (0.5 %) and G9P[4] (0.5 %).Conclusions: These results reported for the first time that RVA was one of the main causes of severe infectious gastroenteritis in children, and a high proportion of G9P[8] strains circulating in most areas of Shanxi Province. While the protective efficacy of the rotavirus vaccines has been demonstrated against G9P[8] strains, our results highlight that the dominant strains have not been effectively controlled in China.