dc.description.abstract | Introduction: Rotavirus infection is a major cause of morbidity and
mortality in infants and young children with diarrhea throughout the
world. Material and Methods: In this study, we aimed to determine the
detection rate of rotavirus infection in 181 children less than 5 years
of age presenting with acute gastroenteritis and admitted to a tertiary
care hospital in Ankara, Turkey, from April to November 2012. We
documented the epidemiological data by elucidating the prevalent
genotypes. Stool specimens were collected, and rotavirus antigen in the
samples was detected using ELISA. G and P genotypes were determined by
RT-PCR via type specific primers. The nucleotide sequence of the
concerned genes was determined by Sanger sequencing and phylogenetic
analysis was performed by neighbor-joining method. Results: Of the 181
samples, 28 (15.5\%) were positive for the rotavirus antigen.
Twenty-seven samples were positive for G genotypes and 21 were positive
for P genotypes. Genotypes G1 (7.1\%), G2 (7.1\%), G3 (7.1\%), G4
(3.6\%), G9 (71.5\%) and P4 (3.6\%), P8 (71.4\%) were identified.
Genotype G9P{[}8] (50\%) was predominant in the combination of G and P
genotypes. Most of the G9 strains of this study formed an independent
cluster in Lineage III, except two strains which clustered with an
Ethiopian G9 strain of 2012. Conclusions: It seems that during 2012
season, genotype G9P{[}8] increased significantly in Ankara due to a new
circulating strain of G9. | |