Rotavirus infection and its genetic characterization in non-hospitalized adults with acute gastroenteritis in Shanghai, China

Rotavirus is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children, while its role as a pathogen in adults has long been underappreciated. In order to describe the epidemiological patterns and genetic characteristics of rotavirus causing sporadic acute gastroenteritis in adults, hospital-based surveillance of rotavirus infections was conducted in Shanghai, China, between June 2010 and May 2011. Stool specimens were collected from outpatients with acute gastroenteritis admitted to three local hospitals. Rotavirus was detected using a colloidal gold test device. G and P genotyping were performed by multiplex PCR assays, and the VP7 gene of G9 strains were sequenced for further genetic characterization. Of 1,479 adult diarrheal stool samples examined during the 1-year surveillance period, 138 (9.3 %) were found to be rotavirus positive. G1 appeared to be the predominant genotype (35.5 %), suggesting a shift from genotype G3 to G1 in the study population in Shanghai. Meanwhile, a high frequency of genotype G9 (27.5 %) was also observed, and G9 was also predominant (38.1 %) in the small number of children (n=123) involved in the present study. Other specificities detected in adults were G2 (12.3 %) and G3 (13.8 %). For P genotyping, only two types, P[8] and P[4], were detected. P[8] was dominant in both children and adults. Sequence and phylogenetic analysis revealed that these strains could be divided into two different groups, with clustering within G9 lineage 3 and the subcluster of Japanese and Chinese G9 strains, respectively. In comparison to the previous data, G9 strains established themselves in a short time span as an important genotype in Shanghai, China.