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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, July 2007, p. 2197-2204, Vol. 45, No. 7
0095-1137/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.00484-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Epidemiology of Rotavirus in Central and Southeastern Europe

Olga Tcheremenskaia,¹ Gianluca Marucci,¹ Simona De Petris,¹ Franco Maria Ruggeri,² Darja Dovecar,³ Suncanica Ljubin Sternak,⁴ Irena Matyasova,⁵ Majlinda Kota Dhimolea,⁶ Zornitsa Mladenova,⁷ Lucia Fiore,^1* and the Rotavirus Study Group

Dept. MIPI,¹ Dept. SAAN, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy,² Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia,³ Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia,⁴ National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic,⁵ Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania,⁶ National Enterovirus Laboratory, NCIPD, Sofia, Bulgaria⁷

Received 5 March 2007/ Returned for modification 10 April 2007/ Accepted 7 May 2007

A surveillance network was implemented by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità of Rome in collaboration with laboratories of virology in Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, and Bulgaria. About 1,500 rotavirus-positive stool samples were collected from children with severe gastroenteritis admitted to hospitals or outpatient wards between 2004 and 2006. The G and P genotypes were determined by reverse transcription-nested PCR. Significant differences were found in the geographical distributions of rotavirus genotypes between countries participating in the study. The prevalence of "common" G/P combinations, G1P[8], G3P[8], G4P[8], and G2P[4], ranged between 50 and 85%. The G9 genotype, which is emerging worldwide, was identified in 2 to 35% of all samples depending on the country. Unusual combinations, such as G1 or G4 associated with P[4] or G2 with P[8], which may have arisen by reassortment between human strains, were found in samples from 3 to 20% of patients. The uncommon genotypes G8P[8] and G10P[6], which may have an animal origin, were also identified. Double infections with two rotavirus strains were observed in between 1.7 and 14% of cases studied. Our findings might implicate challenges for rotavirus vaccine implementation in a wide geographic area of the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe and underscore the importance of extensive strain surveillance for success in vaccine development.

Published ahead of print on 16 May 2007.

The Rotavirus Study Group consists of Alenka Kraigher, Marina Bujko, and Marija Trkov (Institute of Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia); Suzana Bukovski-Simonoski (University Hospital for Infectious Diseases Dr Fran Mihaljevic, Zagreb, Croatia); Amarela Lukic-Grlic (Children's Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia); Nadezda Sojkova (National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic); Petr Pazdiora (Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic); Eduard Kakarriqi, Silva Bino, and Durim Bebeci (Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania); and Neli Korsun and Snejana Gyurova (National Enterovirus Laboratory, NCIPD, Sofia, Bulgaria).

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• Steyer, A., Poljsak-Prijatelj, M., Barlic-Maganja, D., Marin, J. (2008). Human, porcine and bovine rotaviruses in Slovenia: evidence of interspecies transmission and genome reassortment. J. Gen. Virol. 89: 1690-1698 [Abstract] [Full Text]