unexpected role of rotavirus g3p[8] infection in causing severe diarrhea in a major tertiary referral hospital in the prevaccine era

Background: rotavirus a species is associated with severe gastroenteritis in children. rotavirus g1p[8] was the most prevalent genotype found in kuwait in a study conducted between 2005 and 2006. the rotateq vaccine was included in the kuwait national immunization program at the end of 2017. objectives: since there is no available data on the rotavirus genotypes circulating before the introduction of the vaccine, we conducted a study to investigate the role of rotaviruses in causing severe diarrhea in children hospitalized in a major tertiary referral hospital in kuwait during the year 2016. methods: viral rna was isolated from the stool samples of 101 children under five years of age, hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis. rotavirus vp4 and vp7 dsrna were detected by rt-pcr, and their partial sequences were analyzed by phylogenic analysis. results: rotavirus dsrna was detected in 24.7% of children with median age of 1 year. the genotype g3p[8] accounted for 47% of cases, followed by g1p[8] (26%), g9p[8] (10.5%), g4p[8] (10.5%), and g9p[4] (5%). only vp7 nucleotide sequences of rotavirus g3 or g4 type clustered in the same lineage as rotateq vaccine, while most vp4 nucleotide sequences of rotavirus p[8] type clustered in a different lineage compared to rotarix and rotateq vaccines. conclusions: our findings highlight the role of rotavirus g3p[8] in causing severe diarrhea and invites future investigations to know whether the recent introduction of rotateq vaccine in kuwait selects certain genotypes and subgenomic lineages.