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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1497467

Prevalence and genetic characterization of viral gastroenteritis in hospitalized children aged < 5 years in Yunnan Province, China. 2020-2022

Provisionally accepted
Yihui CAO Yihui CAO 1*Nan Li Nan Li 1Enfa Qiao Enfa Qiao 1Lili Li Lili Li 2Zhaojun Duan Zhaojun Duan 2Lili Jiang Lili Jiang 2Jianping Cun Jianping Cun 1Xiaofang Zhou Xiaofang Zhou 1Zhi Chao Wang Zhi Chao Wang 1Yongming Zhou Yongming Zhou 1
  • 1 Yunnan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kunming, China
  • 2 National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background Rotavirus (RV), norovirus (NoV), human enteric adenovirus (HAdV), human astrovirus (HAstV), and sapovirus (SaV) are important viral causes of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children. However, limited information is available regarding AGE in Yunnan, southwest China. Methods To investigate the prevalence of group A rotavirus (RVA), norovirus genogroups I (GI) and II (GII), HAdV, HAstV, SaV in hospitalized children < 5 years with AGE, 2020-2022. Results Stool samples were collected from 612 hospitalized children with AGE. There were 266 of the 612 children presented with AGE (43.46%; 266/612). In total, RVA was detected in 28.76% (176 of 612) of the children. Rotavirus G9P[8] was the most frequent genotype in 2020 and 2021. In 2022, G8P[8] became the dominant genotype combination circulating in Yunnan Province. Norovirus positivity was present in 11.93% (73/612) of the 612 samples. Of the 45 GII successfully sequenced samples, GII.4 was the dominant genotype accounting for 55.11% (23 of 45) followed by GII.3 [P12] (28.89%; 13 of 45). The positivity rates of SaV, HAstV, and HAdV were 2.94% (18/612), 3.43% (21/612), and 4.74% (29/612), respectively. HAdV-F41 was the predominant genotype, and non-enteric HAdV-C2 and HAdV-A12 were also observed in Yunnan. Male children had a higher incidence of AGE than female children upon infection with RV, NoV and HAdV. The highest incidence of AGE was observed among children aged12–23 months (62.50%; 120/192), followed by children aged 24-35 months 52.44% (43/82). Incidence of infection peaked (78.62%; 125/159) in the first 3 months of the year, followed by the next 3 months (66.67%; 70/105). Conclusions RV and NoV remained the most important agents causing AGE. RV G8P[8] became the dominant circulating genotype instead of G9P[8] in Yunnan in 2022. Monitoring should be strengthened to prevent outbreaks caused by RV G8P[8]. New vaccines including RV G8P[8] genotype should be considered.

    Keywords: Acute gastroenteritis, Rotavirus, Norovirus, human enteric adenovirus, Human astrovirus, Sapovirus

    Received: 19 Sep 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 CAO, Li, Qiao, Li, Duan, Jiang, Cun, Zhou, Wang and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yihui CAO, Yunnan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Kunming, China

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