Rotavirus A strains obtained from children with acute gastroenteritis in Mozambique, 2012‑2013 : G and P genotypes and phylogenetic analysis of VP7 and partial VP4 genes

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Authors

Joao, Eva Dora
Strydom, Amy
O’Neill, Hester G.
Cuamba, Assa
Cassocera, Marta
Acacio, Sozinho
Mandomando, Inacio
Motanyane, Lithabiso
Page, Nicola Anne
De Deus, Nilsa

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Springer Verlag

Abstract

In Mozambique rotavirus (RV) was shown to be the greatest cause of acute diarrhoea in infants from 0 to 11 months, and in 2015, national rotavirus vaccination was introduced. As with other developing countries, there is very limited active strain characterisation. Rotavirus positive clinical specimens, collected between 2012 and 2013, have now provided information on the genotypes circulating in southern Mozambique prior to vaccine introduction. Genotypes G2 (32.4%), G12 (28.0%), P[4] (41.4%) and P[6] (22.9%) (n = 157) strains were commonly detected with G2P[4] (42.3%) RVs being predominant, specifically during 2013. Phylogenetic evaluation of the VP7 and VP8* encoding genes showed, for the majority of the Mozambican strains, that they clustered with other African strains based on genotype. RVA/Human-wt/MOZ/0153/2013/G2P[4], RVA/Human-wt/MOZ/0308/2012/G2P[4] and RVA/Humanwt/ MOZ/0288/2012/G12P[8] formed separate clusters from the other Mozambican strains with similar genotypes, suggesting possible reassortment. Amino acid substitutions in selected epitope regions also supported phylogenetic clustering. As expected, the VP7 and VP8* genes from the Mozambican strains differed from both the RotaTeq ® (SC2-9) G2P[5] and Rotarix ® (A41CB052A) G1P[8] genes. This study provides information on the genetic diversity of rotavirus strains prior to vaccine introduction and generates baseline data for future monitoring of any changes in rotavirus strains in response to vaccine pressure.

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Keywords

Infants, Acute diarrhoea, Mozambique rotavirus (RV), Rotavirus group A (RVA), Sequence-independent amplification, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Whole-genome analyses, African rotavirus surveillance network, Antigenic epitopes, Epidemiology, Vaccination, Identification, Diversity

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Citation

João, E.D., Strydom, A., O’Neill, H.G. et al. Rotavirus A strains obtained from children with acute gastroenteritis in Mozambique, 2012‑2013: G and P genotypes and phylogenetic analysis of VP7 and partial VP4 genes', Archives of Virology (2018) 163: 153-165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-017-3575-y.