Prevalence and genetic diversity of human caliciviruses (HuCVs) in Mexican children

• Published in: Journal of medical virology 2000-10, Vol.62 (2), p.217-223
• Main Authors: Farkas, Tibor, Jiang, Xi, Guerrero, M. Lourdes, Zhong, Weiming, Wilton, Nouansy, Berke, Tamás, Matson, David O., Pickering, Larry K., Ruiz-Palacios, Guillermo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Caliciviridae - genetics; Caliciviridae - isolation & purification; Caliciviridae Infections - epidemiology; Caliciviridae Infections - virology; Calicivirus; Child, Preschool; children; diarrhea; Epidemiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gastroenteritis; Gastroenteritis - epidemiology; Gastroenteritis - virology; Genetic Variation; Human calicivirus; human caliciviruses; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infant; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Mexico; Mexico - epidemiology; Microbiology; Norwalk virus; Norwalk virus - genetics; Norwalk virus - isolation & purification; Norwalk-like virus; Prevalence; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Viral; RT-PCR; Sapporo-like virus; sequencing; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the digestive system; Virology
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/1096-9071(200010)62:2<217::AID-JMV13>3.0.CO;2-F

Human caliciviruses (HuCVs) contain two genera: “Norwalk‐like viruses” (NLVs) and “Sapporo‐like viruses” (SLVs). The importance of the two genera as a cause of acute gastroenteritis of infants and children remains unknown. Beginning in 1989, a birth cohort of children in Mexico was enrolled and monitored for acute gastroenteritis. A subset of 115 diarrhea stool specimens from 76 children and 66 non‐diarrhea stool specimens from 64 children was examined for HuCVs by RT‐PCR by using a primer pair (p289/290) that detects both NLVs and SLVs. Twenty‐two (19%) of the 115 diarrhea stool specimens and 5 (7%) of 66 non‐diarrhea stool specimens produced RT‐PCR products of expected size (319 bp for NLVs and 331 bp for SLVs). Twenty of the twenty‐seven strains were cloned and sequenced. Pairwise sequence analysis showed that 9 (60%) and 6 (40%) of the 15 strains from the diarrhea stools were NLVs and SLVs, respectively. The same proportions of NLVs (60%) and SLVs (40%) were observed in the non‐diarrhea stools. Strains in the NLV genus could be further divided into four clusters: Lordsdale, MxV, and HV and one potentially new cluster. Strains in the SLV genus could be divided into three clusters: Sapporo/82, Lon/92, and a potentially new cluster. Strains from the Lordsdale cluster were the most common among these children. The findings of both genera and multiple clusters of HuCVs co‐circulating and the identification of new strains of HuCVs in the population justify the need for future studies of HuCVs in infants and children. J. Med. Virol. 62:217–223, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.