Emergence of G9 serotype rotavirus as a major cause of infectious gastroenteritis in southern Taiwan

Yuk-Lan Sung¹, Yung-Feng Huang¹, Chun-Fong Huang¹, Kow-Tong Chen², Hour-Young Chen³, Guan-Hsien Lee¹, Bao-Ren Nong¹, Chun-Sheng Lin¹, Chin-Ming Chuang¹, Feng-Chuan Liu¹, Chi-Shan Chen¹, Chun-Chin Lin⁴, Kai-Sheng Hsieh¹, Yung-Ching Liu^5
1Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung; Divisions of ²Surveillance and Investigation, and ³Laboratory Research and Development, Center for Disease Control, Department of Health, Taipei; and ⁴Laboratory of Microbiology and ⁵Department of Infectious Disease, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC

Received: June 27, 2003 Revised: April 7, 2004 Accepted: May 19, 2004

Corresponding author: Dr. Yung-Feng Huang, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, 386, Ta-Chung 1st Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. E-mail:

Infectious gastroenteritis is a common illness in children. This study investigated the etiology and clinical manifestations of hospitalized children with symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis in southern Taiwan. We studied 467 consecutive patients with infectious gastroenteritis aged from 2 days to 10 years hospitalized from April 2001 to March 2002. Rotavirus was the most common etiology (57%) of infectious gastroenteritis in these patients. Bacterial infection was noted in 57 cases (12%). Rotavirus was found in 92% of nosocomial infectious gastroenteritis (p<0.001). Bloody stool was a presentation of bacterial infection in 74% of cases and rotavirus gastroenteritis in 8% of cases (p<0.001). The G serotype of rotavirus was identified in 87 patients. Serotype G1 was the most common (51%), followed by G9 (31%). The emergence of serotype G9 strains in rotavirus infection has not been previously reported from Taiwan. Incorporation of G9 rotavirus into vaccines should be considered.

Key words: Gastroenteritis, rotavirus, serotyping

J Microbiol Immunol Infect 2004;37:322-326.