Analysis of human rotavirus strains prevailing in Bangladesh in relation to nationwide floods brought by the 1988 monsoon

Abstract

The virologic character of human rotavirus strains prevailing in Bangladesh was investigated in relation to the devastating nationwide floods brought by the 1988 monsoon. Human rotaviruses contained in stool specimens that were collected from inpatients with infantile and adult diarrhea in two hospitals in Mymensingh over a 13-month period (January 1988 to January 1989) and in one hospital in Dhaka over a 3-month period (February to April 1988) were examined for their subgroup, VP7 serotype, and RNA electropherotype. In concurrence with the spread of the flood (from the middle of August 1988), the number of infantile and adult diarrhea patients increased greatly. At the same time, the proportion of rotavirus-positive specimens in all diarrhea cases also increased remarkably, reaching 54 and 45% in September and October, respectively. An electrophoretic analysis of viral RNA revealed 17 distinct patterns of viral RNA (14 long and 3 short electropherotypes) and a considerable number of mixed electropherotypes, suggesting the simultaneous infection of some patients with more than two rotavirus strains. It was noteworthy that electropherotypes of rotavirus strains prevailing in the community changed considerably after the spreading of the flood and that the frequency of virus specimens showing mixed electropherotypes increased significantly during the flood period. These results suggest that sudden environmental change caused by the devastating floods seriously affected the epidemiology of rotavirus infections by increasing the opportunity of transmission of the virus and by reducing the resistance of the host to infection. In both pediatric and adult patient groups, serotypes 1 and 2 were the most frequent ones detected, followed by serotype 4.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)