ASSAY OF NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODIES TO ANIMAL ROTAVIRUS STRAINS AND HUMAN ROTAVIRUS SEROTYPE G8 BY A MODIFIED METHOD IN THE RESIDENTS OF PUNE,INDIA

In the western literature, four G serotypes (G1-G4) of human rotavirus es have been found to be of a major epidemiological importance, During the analysis of rotavirus serotypes from faecal samples in Pune, over 50% of specimens could not be serotyped with the available monoclonal antibodies against G1-G4 serotypes, The results prompted to look for the prevalence of neutralizing antibodies against serotypes other than the major human serotypes (G1-G4) in adults, Neutralizing antibodies against animal rotavirus serotype, viz, G3, G6 and G10, and human rota virus serotype G8 were determined in adult sera, by a modified techniq ue, which is ELISA-based and mechanized, The results showed that, of t he 68 sera tested at 1:100 dilution, 65 (95.58%) were reactive for G3 (SA-11), 52 (76.47%) for G6 (Bovine Lincoln), 6 (8.82%) for G10 (B223) , and 40 (58.82%) for G8 (M69) serotypes. It appears that the prevalen ce of rotaviruses in India may be quite different from that in the dev eloped countries.