Abstract
Rotavirus induced acute gastroenteritis AGE has been a major disease burden in Nigeria, since it was first reported in 1985. Prevalence rates have increased with severe public health consequences particularly among children. The vaccine Rotarix® has been introduced and is commercially available in Nigeria. However routine rotavirus vaccination is yet to be introduced into the National Immunization Program. Molecular epidemiology of rotavirus in Nigeria has shown the presence of various genotypes, with genotype G12P[8] being the most recent introduction. There are however gaps in molecular data on rotavirus in Nigeria. We therefore reviewed molecular data on rotavirus isolated in Nigeria and also analyzed VP4 and VP7 genes of Nigerian rotavirus strains in Genbank. We have shown that there is a distinct trend in rotavirus molecular epidemiology in Nigeria, with new genotype introductions occurring after the year 2010. We also observed from our analysis the emergence of genotype G12 Lineage III as a dominant genotype. This information elucidates rotavirus molecular epidemiology in Nigeria and gives insight to the expanding landscape of rotavirus genotypes. We recommend the institution of molecular surveillance country wide, before considering the inclusion of rotavirus vaccination into the National Immunization Program in Nigeria, in other to monitor evolution of divergent or recombinant strains.
Highlights
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide; it was reported to be responsible for about 128,500 deaths in 2016, with over 70% of cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa [1, 2]
After the discovery of rotavirus, several other agents that were earlier associated with animal diarrhea diseases were later discovered to be rotaviruses from their similar morphological characteristics, such as the epizootic diarrhea of infant mice (EDIM) and simian agent 11 (SA 11) [7]
Another study done in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria, among under five children reported a high prevalence of rotavirus induced diarrhea with 25% positivity to rotavirus antigen by ELISA [37]
Summary
Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide; it was reported to be responsible for about 128,500 deaths in 2016, with over 70% of cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa [1, 2]. Rotavirus associated mortality has drastically reduced with 528,000 deaths (range, 465,000–591,000) in 2000 to 215,000 (range, 197,000–233,000) in 2013, of which 75% occur in Africa and Asia. Six countries India, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, China, and Pakistan account for more than half of the global mortality burden of rotavirus diarrhea [3, 4]. Rotavirus infection is usually localized to the intestine; some studies have reported antigenemia or viremia in children with rotavirus diarrhea [8, 9]. The first-line preventive strategy for rotavirus infection is the development of vaccines against the virus. In Nigeria, Rotarix vaccine is available commercially but is yet to be included in the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI)
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