Detection of two atypical rotaviruses in the province of Misiones, Argentina

Abstract

Out of 317 human gastroenteritis cases studied between August 1988-August 1989, two atypical antigenically distinct rotaviruses (pararotaviruses) were detected in faecal samples among 19 rotaviruses shedding children from Misiones province, North-Eastern Argentina. A 1 3/4 year old girl a 3 years old boy, both with vomiting and normal temperature, shed these atypical rotaviruses. Their morphology by electron microscopy was identical to other rotaviruses; they contained 11 double-stranded RNA segments detected by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and failed to react with the antibody directed against the rotavirus group specific antigen (Rotazyme II ELISA). The electrophoretic migration of these RNAs (electropherotype) in polyacrylamide gels did not coincide with the typical pattern of distinct size classes observed in most human rotaviruses reported, instead, they appeared to be related to patterns of rotaviruses group C.