Molecular epidemiology of classic, MLB and VA astroviruses isolated from <5 year-old children with gastroenteritis in Thailand, 2011–2016

• Main Authors: Kattareeya Kumthip, Pattara Khamrin, Hiroshi Ushijima, Niwat Maneekarn
• Format: Journal
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Agricultural and Biological Sciences; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Immunology and Microbiology; Medicine
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85052480981&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/62490
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. This study aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of astrovirus circulating in pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis in Thailand. A total of 2034 fecal specimens collected between 2011 and 2016 from children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis were analyzed for astrovirus infection using RT-PCR and nucleotide sequencing techniques. Overall, 54 samples were positive for astrovirus (2.6%). About half of the virus-positive samples (57.4%) were co-infection cases, mainly with rotavirus or norovirus. Genotyping revealed that three major clades, classic human astrovirus (HAstV) and newly emerging MLB and VA astroviruses co-circulated in the study population. At least seven different genotypes were identified and HAstV1 was the most predominant genotype detected (50%), followed by MLB1 (16.7%), HAstV4 (11.1%), HAstV5 and HAstV8 (7.4% each), MLB2 and VA2 (3.7% each). This study provided a useful information and contributed to molecular epidemiology of astroviruses including the novel MLB and VA astoviruses have been characterized and reported for the first time in Thailand.