Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1996 Jul;34(7):1750–1753. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.7.1750-1753.1996

Annual incidence, serotype distribution, and genetic diversity of human astrovirus isolates from hospitalized children in Melbourne, Australia.

E A Palombo 1, R F Bishop 1
PMCID: PMC229107  PMID: 8784582

Abstract

The incidence of astrovirus infection in children under 5 years of age hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis in Melbourne, Australia, during 1995 was determined. Astrovirus was detected in 16 fecal specimens by Northern (RNA) dot blot analysis of RNA isolated from feces with an astrovirus-specific cDNA probe. The incidence of astrovirus infection was determined as 4.2% (16 of 378 total samples) compared with rates of 63.2, 3.7, and 4.2% for rotavirus, adenovirus, and all bacterial pathogens, respectively. Astrovirus was detected during the winter season and mainly in infants between 6 and 12 months of age. Serotyping of samples was carried out by reverse transcriptase PCR and direct sequencing of a 348-bp region of the capsid protein gene. Type 1 strains predominated (11 of 13 typeable samples), although type 4 isolates were also detected. Astrovirus was retrospectively identified in 13 fecal samples collected from hospitalized infants between 1980 and 1985 and shown to contain small viruses by electron microscopy. Type 1 isolates were again the most common, although a type 5 strain was also found. Comparative sequence analysis indicated that type 1 astroviruses exhibited up to 7% sequence divergence over a 15-year period; however, all mutations were silent. The incidence of astrovirus reported here indicates that the virus is a significant cause of severe diarrhea in young children. The genetic analysis also provides important molecular epidemiological information relevant to the development of preventative therapies.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (230.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Appleton H., Higgins P. G. Letter: Viruses and gastroenteritis in infants. Lancet. 1975 Jun 7;1(7919):1297–1297. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92581-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cruz J. R., Bartlett A. V., Herrmann J. E., Cáceres P., Blacklow N. R., Cano F. Astrovirus-associated diarrhea among Guatemalan ambulatory rural children. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 May;30(5):1140–1144. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.5.1140-1144.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Esahli H., Brebäck K., Bennet R., Ehrnst A., Eriksson M., Hedlund K. O. Astroviruses as a cause of nosocomial outbreaks of infant diarrhea. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1991 Jul;10(7):511–515. doi: 10.1097/00006454-199107000-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ford-Jones E. L., Mindorff C. M., Gold R., Petric M. The incidence of viral-associated diarrhea after admission to a pediatric hospital. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Apr;131(4):711–718. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115555. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gentsch J. R., Glass R. I., Woods P., Gouvea V., Gorziglia M., Flores J., Das B. K., Bhan M. K. Identification of group A rotavirus gene 4 types by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Jun;30(6):1365–1373. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.6.1365-1373.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gouvea V., Allen J. R., Glass R. I., Fang Z. Y., Bremont M., Cohen J., McCrae M. A., Saif L. J., Sinarachatanant P., Caul E. O. Detection of group B and C rotaviruses by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Mar;29(3):519–523. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.3.519-523.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Greenberg H. B., Matsui S. M. Astroviruses and caliciviruses: emerging enteric pathogens. Infect Agents Dis. 1992 Apr;1(2):71–91. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Herrmann J. E., Taylor D. N., Echeverria P., Blacklow N. R. Astroviruses as a cause of gastroenteritis in children. N Engl J Med. 1991 Jun 20;324(25):1757–1760. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199106203242501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jiang B., Monroe S. S., Koonin E. V., Stine S. E., Glass R. I. RNA sequence of astrovirus: distinctive genomic organization and a putative retrovirus-like ribosomal frameshifting signal that directs the viral replicase synthesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Nov 15;90(22):10539–10543. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.22.10539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jonassen T. O., Monceyron C., Lee T. W., Kurtz J. B., Grinde B. Detection of all serotypes of human astrovirus by the polymerase chain reaction. J Virol Methods. 1995 Apr;52(3):327–334. doi: 10.1016/0166-0934(94)00168-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kurtz J. B., Lee T. W. Astroviruses: human and animal. Ciba Found Symp. 1987;128:92–107. doi: 10.1002/9780470513460.ch6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kurtz J. B., Lee T. W. Human astrovirus serotypes. Lancet. 1984 Dec 15;2(8416):1405–1405. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)92101-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Lee T. W., Kurtz J. B. Prevalence of human astrovirus serotypes in the Oxford region 1976-92, with evidence for two new serotypes. Epidemiol Infect. 1994 Feb;112(1):187–193. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800057551. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Madeley C. R., Cosgrove B. P. Letter: 28 nm particles in faeces in infantile gastroenteritis. Lancet. 1975 Sep 6;2(7932):451–452. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(75)90858-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Martínez M. A., Dopazo J., Hernández J., Mateu M. G., Sobrino F., Domingo E., Knowles N. J. Evolution of the capsid protein genes of foot-and-mouth disease virus: antigenic variation without accumulation of amino acid substitutions over six decades. J Virol. 1992 Jun;66(6):3557–3565. doi: 10.1128/jvi.66.6.3557-3565.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Matsui S. M., Kim J. P., Greenberg H. B., Young L. M., Smith L. S., Lewis T. L., Herrmann J. E., Blacklow N. R., Dupuis K., Reyes G. R. Cloning and characterization of human astrovirus immunoreactive epitopes. J Virol. 1993 Mar;67(3):1712–1715. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.3.1712-1715.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mitchell D. K., Monroe S. S., Jiang X., Matson D. O., Glass R. I., Pickering L. K. Virologic features of an astrovirus diarrhea outbreak in a day care center revealed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. J Infect Dis. 1995 Dec;172(6):1437–1444. doi: 10.1093/infdis/172.6.1437. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Moe C. L., Allen J. R., Monroe S. S., Gary H. E., Jr, Humphrey C. D., Herrmann J. E., Blacklow N. R., Carcamo C., Koch M., Kim K. H. Detection of astrovirus in pediatric stool samples by immunoassay and RNA probe. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Nov;29(11):2390–2395. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.11.2390-2395.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Monroe S. S., Jiang B., Stine S. E., Koopmans M., Glass R. I. Subgenomic RNA sequence of human astrovirus supports classification of Astroviridae as a new family of RNA viruses. J Virol. 1993 Jun;67(6):3611–3614. doi: 10.1128/jvi.67.6.3611-3614.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Monroe S. S., Stine S. E., Gorelkin L., Herrmann J. E., Blacklow N. R., Glass R. I. Temporal synthesis of proteins and RNAs during human astrovirus infection of cultured cells. J Virol. 1991 Feb;65(2):641–648. doi: 10.1128/jvi.65.2.641-648.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Nazer H., Rice S., Walker-Smith J. A. Clinical associations of stool astrovirus in childhood. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1982;1(4):555–558. doi: 10.1097/00005176-198212000-00018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Noel J. S., Lee T. W., Kurtz J. B., Glass R. I., Monroe S. S. Typing of human astroviruses from clinical isolates by enzyme immunoassay and nucleotide sequencing. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Apr;33(4):797–801. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.4.797-801.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Palombo E. A., Bishop R. F., Cotton R. G. Intra- and inter-season genetic variability in the VP7 gene of serotype 1 (monotype 1 a) rotavirus clinical isolates. Arch Virol. 1993;130(1-2):57–69. doi: 10.1007/BF01318996. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sammels L. M., Coelen R. J., Lindsay M. D., Mackenzie J. S. Geographic distribution and evolution of Ross River virus in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Virology. 1995 Sep 10;212(1):20–29. doi: 10.1006/viro.1995.1449. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Utagawa E. T., Nishizawa S., Sekine S., Hayashi Y., Ishihara Y., Oishi I., Iwasaki A., Yamashita I., Miyamura K., Yamazaki S. Astrovirus as a cause of gastroenteritis in Japan. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Aug;32(8):1841–1845. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.8.1841-1845.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Willcocks M. M., Brown T. D., Madeley C. R., Carter M. J. The complete sequence of a human astrovirus. J Gen Virol. 1994 Jul;75(Pt 7):1785–1788. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-75-7-1785. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Willcocks M. M., Carter M. J., Silcock J. G., Madeley C. R. A dot-blot hybridization procedure for the detection of astrovirus in stool samples. Epidemiol Infect. 1991 Oct;107(2):405–410. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800049049. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES