The characteristics of sapovirus infection among patients with diarrhea in Shenzhen in 2016

Abstract

Objective To investigate the characteristics of sapovirus (SaV) infection among patients with diarrhea in Shenzhen. Methods From January, 2016 to December, 2016, a total of 838 stool specimens were collected from patients with suspected viral diarrhea. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the nucleic acid of SaV. The positive PCR products were sequenced and the phylogenetic analysis was performed. The epidemiological data of the cases were analyzed. Results Nine samples were found to be positive of SaV, with a positive rate of 1.07% (9/838). There was no significant difference (x2=3.79, P>0.05) in the detection rates between male (1.68%, 8/477) and female (0.55%, 1/361). The detection rates were 0.79% (3/381), 5.00% (1/20), and 1.36% (5/367) among patients in 0-2, 15-19 and ≥20 years old groups respectively. No positive sample was found among patients aged 3-14 years old. The detection rates were 0.99% (2/202) in spring, 1.15% (4/347) in summer, 1.35% (3/222) in autumn, respectively. No positive sample was found in winter. Phylogenetic analysis showed that SaV GI.2 type was the predominant strain in Shenzhen, and SaV GI.1 type was also detected. Conclusions SaV was one of the major pathogens of viral diarrhea in Shenzhen, and GI.2 type was the predominant strain. Key words: Diarrhea; Sapovirus; Epidemiological study; Genotype