LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SMALL ROUND-STRUCTURED VIRUSES IN A PEDIATRIC POPULATION

Small round-structured viruses (SRSV), recently designated members of the family Caliciviridae, can now be readily subtyped by amplification of a defined portion of their genome by reverse transcription-PCR and then by identification of the amplicons with specific probes by South ern blotting, A longitudinal survey (from 1991 to 1995) was conducted to determine the genotypes of the SRSV present in pediatric stool spec imens from patients with sporadic cases of gastroenteritis, It was fou nd that almost all viruses were of the G-2 genotype, and on probing, t he subtype P2-B was predominant but the frequencies of the different s ubtypes varied from year to year, A survey of the genotypes of SRSV fr om community outbreaks from 1995 showed that the G-2 genotype was also predominant and that the distribution of its subtypes was similar to that seen in sporadic cases of diarrhea in pediatric patients over the same time period, It was concluded that there is a succession of subt ypes of SRSV in our pediatric population over time, This distribution of genotypes in sporadic cases of pediatric gastroenteritis may reflec t the distribution in community outbreaks occurring at the same time.