Genetic diversity of norovirus, sapovirus, and astrovirus isolated from children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Abstract

Norovirus (NV), sapovirus (SV), and human astrovirus (HAstV) are important causes of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children. This study investigated the prevalence of NV, SV, and HAstV infections in children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis in Chiang Mai, Thailand from May 2000 to March 2002. Fecal specimens were tested for NV, SV, and HAstV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using degenerate specific primers. These viruses were characterized further by sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the partial capsid gene. From 296 fecal specimens tested, 13.5% (40 of 296) were positive for NV, SV, and HAstV. Of these, NV most predominant, with a prevalence of 60% (24 of 40), of which 17.5% were NVGI and 42.5% were NVGII. Of note, one specimen was positive for both NVGI and SV. SV was detected in 25%, while HAstV was detected in 17.5%. Analysis of nucleotide and amino acid sequences revealed that NVGI strains comprised GI/3, GI/4, GI/6, GI/7, and GI/13 genotypes. Among NVGII strains, approximately half of them belonged to genotype GII/4 (Lordsdale virus cluster), followed by GII/3, GII/10, GII/1, GII/6, GII/8, and GII/15. Analysis of SV sequences revealed that SVGI (Manchester virus) was more common than SVGII (London virus). The SV genotypes detected in this study belonged to SVGI/1, SVGI/4, SVGI/5, SVGII/1, and SVGII/2, whereas the HAstV belonged to genotypes HAstV-1, HAstV-2, HAstV-3, and HAstV-5. The findings suggest that NV, SV, and HAstV are important enteric viruses cocirculating among hospitalized children in Chiang Mai, Thailand.