Copyright © 1991, American Society for Microbiology Rotavirus-Associated Diarrhea in Rural Bangladesh: Two-Year Study of Incidence and Serotype Distribution

Bangladesh, between June 1987 and May 1989. The stools were analyzed to determine the distribution of serotypes of group A rotaviruses (RV). A total of 898 stool samples (15.5%) contained RV, as determined by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RV isolates from 855 of these samples were serotyped by using serotype-specific synthetic oligonucleotide probes. A total of 558 (65.3%) could be assigned to specific serotypes: 166 (19.4%), 228 (26.7%), 39 (4.6%), and 125 (14.6%) belonged to serotypes 1 through 4, respectively; 12 (1.4%) hybridized with more than one serotype; and 285 (33.3%) failed to hybridize. RV diarrhea was evident throughout the year, with peaks in the dry winter months and in September 1988, coinciding with a major flood. RV was isolated from 46.6 % of patients between 7 and 12 months old. Among children under 24 months of age with RV diarrhea, 1.2 % (10 of 828) died. The corresponding percentage for children with diarrhea from all causes is 0.9 % (29 of 3,301). Epidemiological studies on the distribution and relative frequency of the major group A rotavirus (RV) serotypes highlight regional differences and record changes with time in a given population. Understanding the dynamics of R