Epidemiology of enteric virus infections in children living in the Amazon region

Objectives: To verify the frequency of viruses causing acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in association with the histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) and Rotarix (TM) vaccination coverage in children from the Amazon region. Design: Fecal and saliva samples were collected from children with AGE (n = 485) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) (n = 249) clinical symptoms. Rotavirus A (RVA), norovirus, human adenovirus (HAdV), and sapovirus (SaV) were verified in feces by molecular detection. Saliva samples were used for HBGA phenotyping/FUT3 genotyping. Blood group types, clinical aspects and Rotarix (TM) RVA vaccination data were recorded. Results: Norovirus remained the most prevalently detected cause of AGE (38%, 184/485 and ARI 21.3%, 53/249). High HAdV frequencies were observed in AGE children (28.6%, 139/485) and ARI children (37.3%, 93/249). RVA was the third most prevalent virus causing AGE (22.7%, 110/485 and ARI 19.3%, 48/249) and a low RV1 coverage (61%, 448/734) was verified. The SaV frequencies were lower (7.2%, 35/485 for AGE and 6.8%, 17/249 for ARI). Secretor children were HBGA susceptible to HAdV infection (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.3; P = 0.04) but not to RVA, norovirus or SaV infection. Conclusions: Norovirus could be considered the main etiological agent of AGE. No association was verified for HBGA susceptibility to RVA, norovirus and SaV. Secretor children showed a slight susceptibility to HAdV infection and the Le (a-b-) heterogeneous SNPs on the FUT3 gene. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases.Funding Agencies|Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) "Programa de Professor Visitante no ExteriorCoordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) [88881.337140/201901, 01/2019]; Foun-dation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro-FAPERJ "Edital Carlos Chagas Filho"; National Council for Scientific and Technological Development-CNPqConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPQ) [424376/20164]; Oswaldo Cruz Institute-IOC (PAEF)