First molecular detection of group A rotavirus in urban and hospital sewage systems by nested-RT PCR in Shiraz, Iran

Background: group a rotaviruses are the most significant cause of acute gastroenteritis in children worldwide.rotaviruses are shed in high numbers and dispersed widely throughout bodies of water in the environment. thisrepresents a significant health hazard for humans, mainly due to the stability of the viruses during wastewatertreatment processes. this study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of rotaviruses, to determine ggenotypes of circulating rotaviruses and to assess the efficiency of rotavirus removal in urban and hospital sewagetreatment plants in shiraz, iran.materials and methods: during the period from october 2010 to june 2011, a total of sixty sewage samples fromurban and hospital sewage disposal systems were collected by grab sampling in shiraz, iran. all the samples wereconcentrated in pellet form and two-phase methods and then group a rotaviruses were investigated with enzymeimmunoassays (eia). rotavirus-positive specimens were genotyped by the nested rt-pcr and by using differenttypes of specific primers.results: in total, rotaviruses were identified in 25% (15 cases) of sewage samples, representing 73.33% (11 cases) ofinfluent and 26.67% (4 cases) of effluent systems. the frequency of rotavirus detection in autumn, winter and springwas 46.67%, 33.33% and 20%, respectively (p= 0.004). the most common circulating genotype was g1 (73.33%),followed by g1g4 (20%) and non-typeable (6.67%), respectively.conclusions: the high prevalence of rotaviruses in urban and hospital sewage systems highlights the importanceof environmental surveillance as a tool to detect new genotypes and to investigate the epidemiology of rotavirusescirculating in the community.