DISTRIBUTION OF VP7 SEROTYPES AND VP4 GENOTYPES AMONG ROTAVIRUS STRAINS RECOVERED FROM ITALIAN CHILDREN WITH DIARRHEA

108 rotavirus strains obtained from children with diarrhea hospitalize d in Palermo, Italy, in the years 1990-1994, were examined by seminest ed PCR to study the relative frequency and distribution of the four mo st common alleles of the gene 4. Such strains were selected from 344 h uman rotavirus strains recovered in Palermo during those years after c haracterization by electropherotyping, subgrouping and G serotyping. O ne hundred and seven of the 108 strains could be classified into P typ es, the P[8], G1 (38.3%) and the P[8], G4 (52.3%) types being predomin ant. The unique strain whose P genotype could not be identified showed an unusual combination of long migration electrophoretic pattern and subgroup I specificity.