Abstract
Human astrovirus (HAstV) represents the third most common virus associated with acute diarrhea (AD). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HAstV infection in Brazilian children under 5 years of age with AD, investigate the presence of recently described HAstV strains, through extensive laboratory-based surveillance of enteric viral agents in three Brazilian coastal regions between 2005 and 2011. Using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the overall HAstV detection rate reached 7.1% (207/2.913) with percentage varying according to the geographic region: 3.9% (36/921) in the northeast, 7.9% in the south (71/903) and 9.2% in the southeast (100/1.089) (p < 0.001). HAstV were detected in cases of all age groups. Detection rates were slightly higher during the spring. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a 320-bp ORF2 fragment revealed that HAstV-1 was the predominant genotype throughout the seven years of the study. The novel AstV-MLB1 was detected in two children with AD from a subset of 200 samples tested, demonstrating the circulation of this virus both the in northeastern and southeastern regions of Brazil. These results provide additional epidemiological and molecular data on HAstV circulation in three Brazilian coastal regions, highlighting its potential to cause infantile AD.
Highlights
Acute diarrhea (AD) remains a major cause of hospitalization and death in children worldwide, associated with almost 9.9% of the 6.9 million deaths among children under 5 years old in 2011 [1]
Considering the distinct Brazilian coastal regions, human astrovirus (HAstV) was detected more frequently in the southeastern (9.2% [100/1.089]) and southern (7.9% [71/903]) regions, compared to the northeastern region (3.9% [36/921]); p < 0.001 (Table 1)
This study reports an overview of the distribution of HAstV genotypes in three coast regions of Brazil
Summary
Acute diarrhea (AD) remains a major cause of hospitalization and death in children worldwide, associated with almost 9.9% of the 6.9 million deaths among children under 5 years old in 2011 [1]. Among the AD etiologic agents, viruses play an important role and after rotavirus group A (RVA) and norovirus (NoV), human astrovirus (HAstV) represents the third most common virus found in children with AD, and is thought to be involved in 0.5 to 15% of AD outbreaks [2, 3]. HAstV infections are more frequent in children, the elderly and among immunocompromised patients causing blunting of the tips of the microvilli as well as disruption of the intestinal epithelium [2, 4, 5]. Human astrovirus belongs to the Astroviridae family and contains single-stranded, positivesense, polyadenylated RNA 6.2–7.8 kilobases (kb) in length without an envelope, encased. Surveillance of Human Astrovirus Infection in Brazil collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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