Background: Human rotavirus genotypes G1-G4, G9, P [4] and P [8] are major worldwide causes of acute gastroenteritis in children. Rotavirus genotype G1P [8] is predominant in many countries. In this study, the genotypic diversity of group A rotaviruses were detected in children<5 years of age who were treated for dehydration and diarrhea in Tehran, Iran from October 2004 to September 2008.
Methods: A total of 700 stool specimens were collected from children and assessed for the presence of rotaviruses by the dsRNA-PAGE technique. G and P typing of the positive samples were performed by semi-nested multiplex RT-PCR.
Results: Rotaviruses were isolated in 19% of samples. A total of 14 rotavirus dsRNA different electrophoretypes were detected. The predominant genotype was G1 (76.3%), followed by G4 (11.5%), G8 (0.8%), P [4] (9.2%) and P [8] (66.4%), respectively. In mixed type samples, the majority were of genotype G1P [8] (53.4%), followed by G1P [4] (9.2%) and G4P [8] (4.6%). Mixed types consisted of 3.1% of the total sample followed by G1G2/-P (1.5%), G1G4P [4] (0.8%) and G1G4P [8] (0.8%).
Conclusion: In this study, a high prevalence of the G1P [8] genotype was determined to be the cause of childhood gastroenteritis in Tehran, Iran. The sequence of G and P genotypes showed high levels of similarity to strains from other Asian countries. Our data will be useful for future vaccine formulation in Iran.