Author/Editor		Steyer, Andrej; Sagadin, Martin; Kolenc, Marko; Poljšak-Prijatelj, Mateja
Title		Molecular characterization of rotavirus strains from pre- and post-vaccination periods in a country with low vaccination coverage
Type		članek
Publication year		2014
ISSN		1567-7257 - Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics in infectious diseases
Language		eng
Abstract		Rotavirus vaccination started in Slovenia in 2007 on a voluntarily basis. The vaccination rate is relatively low (up to 27%) and no increasing trend is observed. We present rotavirus genotype distribution among children hospitalized for rotavirus gastroenteritis in Slovenia. Eight consecutive rotavirus seasons were followed, from 2005/06 to 2012/13, and 113 strains of the most common rotavirus genotypes were randomly selected for molecular characterization of rotavirus VP7 and VP4 (VP8*) genome segments. During the vaccine introduction period, from 2007 to 2013, rotavirus genotype prevalences changed, with G1P[8] decreasing from 74.1% to 8.7% between 2007/08 and 2010/11 seasons, replaced by G4P[8] and G2P[4], with up to 52.0% prevalence. Comparable analysis of VP7 and VP8* genome fragments within G1P[8] genotype lineages revealed considerable differences for rotavirus strains circulating before and during the vaccination period. The G1P[8] rotavirus strains from the pre-vaccination period clustered in a phylogenetic tree within Rotarix - like VP7 and VP8* lineages. However, since 2007, the majority of G1P[8] strains have shifted to distant genetic lineages with lower nucleotide (88.1-94.0% for VP7 and 86.6-91.1% for VP8*) and amino acid (93.8-95.2% for VP7 and 85.3-94.6% for VP8*) identities to the vaccine Rotarix strain. This change also resulted in a different deduced amino acid profile at the major VP7 and VP8* antigenic epitopes.
Keywords		group A rotaviruses molecular epidemiology rotavirus vaccine skupina rotavirusov A molekularna epidemiologija rotavirus vaccine