Possible role of neonatal infection with the asymptomatic reassortant rotavirus (RV) strain I321 in the decrease in hospital admissions for RV diarrhea, Bangalore, India, 1988-1999
Vethanayagam, R.R.; Ananda Babu, M.; Nagalaxmi, K.S.; Maiya, P.P.; Venkatesh, H.A.; Purohit, S.; Behl, R.; Bhan, M.K.; Ward, R.L.; Greenberg, H.B.; Durga Rao, C.
Journal of Infectious Diseases 189(12): 2282-2289
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-1899 PMID: 15181576 DOI: 10.1086/420889Document Number: 251391
We sought to determine the proportion of rotavirus ( RV) infections among children with severe diarrhea in Bangalore, India, and to determine the role of neonatal infection with the asymptomatic RV strain I321 in protection against subsequent RV diarrhea. At 2 major hospitals, there was a >42% decrease in diarrhea-specific admissions during the study period. At 6 hospitals, asymptomatic infections were found in 25%-50% of neonates, when screening was performed randomly, and in >58% of neonates, when screening was performed daily, with the majority of infections occurring within the first 7 days of life. All the RVs found in asymptomatic neonates were strain I321. A 24-month follow-up of a cohort of 44 children who had been neonatally infected with strain I321 and 28 children who had not (control group) revealed comparable rates of RV detection but a marked decrease in the number of RV diarrhea episodes in the strain I321-infected group (2.3%), compared with the control group (39.3%) (P .0001). This preliminary study suggests a possible association between neonatal infection with strain I321 and protection against subsequent RV illness.