Background: Rotavirus gastroenteritis is a major public health problem in Nepal. This study was conducted to obtain information associated with Rotavirus gastroenteritis and to perform genotyping of Rotavirus A.
Methods: Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted from January to December 2017 among children less than 5 years of age attending Kanti Children's Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Rotavirus A antigen detection was performed by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) using ProSpecT Rotavirus Microplate Assay. Rotavirus A positive strains were further confirmed by genotyping using Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: A total of 1074 stool samples were collected, of them 770 were hospitalized, and 304 were non-hospitalized cases. Rotavirus A infection was found in 28% of children with infection rate higher in hospitalized (34%) than in non-hospitalized (14%) children. Rotavirus A detection was higher in male (31%) than in female (24%), but this was statistically not significant (p > 0.05). Rotavirus A positivity was higher in children of age group 0-23 months, this result was statistically not significant (p > 0.05) with higher frequency found in the months of November, December, January, February and March (p < 0.05). On the basis of molecular analysis of Rotavirus A genotyping, G12P[6] (46.39%) was found to be the predominant followed by G1P[8] (35.05%), G3P[8] (7.21%) and G1P[6] (5.15%) while 4.12% was mixed infection and 1.03% was partially typed (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Rotavirus A infection occurred throughout the year, but the infection was significantly higher during the month of March. The higher frequency of rotavirus infection was observed among children of age group 0-23 months; however this was not found to be statistically significant. In this study, G12P[6] is predominant genotype observed. The results of genotyping are essential for the introduction of Rotavirus vaccine in Nepal.
Keywords: Gastroenteritis; Genotyping; Nepal; Rotavirus.