Homotypic and Heterotypic Protection and Risk of Reinfection Following Natural Norovirus Infection in a Highly Endemic Setting

Abstract

Background: Norovirus is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, yet there is limited information on homotypic or heterotypic protection following natural infection to guide vaccine development.

Methods: A total of 6020 stools collected from 299 Peruvian children between 2010 and 2014 were tested by norovirus real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction followed by sequence-based genotyping. Cox proportional hazards models were used to derive adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of infection among children with vs without prior exposure.

Results: Norovirus was detected in 1288 (21.3%) samples. GII.4 (26%), GII.6 (19%), and GI.3 (9%) viruses accounted for 54% of infections. Homotypic protection for GI.3 (HR, 0.35; P = .015), GI.7 (HR, 0.19; P = .022), GII.4 (HR, 0.39; P < .001), and GII.6 (HR, 0.52; P = .006) infections was observed. Hazard analysis showed that children with prior GII.4 infection exhibited heterotypic protection with a 48% reduction of subsequent GI.3 infection (HR, 0.52; P = .005). Prior exposure to GI.3, GII.2, and GII.17 infections enhanced susceptibility to subsequent infections with several other norovirus genotypes.

Conclusions: Children up to 2 years of age infected with GII.4 noroviruses demonstrated both homotypic and heterotypic protection to reinfection with other genotypes. These data support the need for ongoing vaccine development efforts with GII.4 as the main component and caution the inclusion of genotypes that may enhance susceptibility to infections.

Keywords: GII.4; heterotypic protection; homotypic protection; norovirus; reinfection.

Figure 1.

Number of norovirus infections per child in a Peruvian birth cohort during their first 2 years of life.

Figure 2.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to estimate time to first GI and GII norovirus detection in symptomatic and asymptomatic children.

Figure 3.

GI and GII norovirus genotypes in children from a Peruvian birth cohort from 2010 to 2014. Other genotypes include genotypes each with a prevalence < 5% (GI.1, GI.2, GI.4, GI.6, GI.8, GI.9, GII.1, GII.3, GII.8, GII.14, GII.22, GII.24, GII.26, GII.27, and GII.NA1 [a not-yet-assigned GII genotype]) [4].