Subject(s)
Gastroenteritis/epidemiology , Gastroenteritis/virology , Genotype , Rotavirus Infections/epidemiology , Rotavirus Infections/virology , Rotavirus/isolation & purification , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Islands/epidemiology , Male , Rotavirus/classification , Rotavirus/genetics , SeasonsABSTRACT
Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea worldwide, affecting over 125 million young children every year in developing countries. The present study is a part of ongoing childhood diarrhoeal surveillance to determine the strain diversity of rotaviruses prevalent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. From October 2010 to February 2012, 296 stool samples from children (age group 6-60 months) with gastroenteritis were obtained from different referral hospitals/primary health centres and community health centres in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A total of 47 samples were found positive for GARV. Among these, 21 (44.7%) samples belong to G2P[4], 12 (25.5%) samples were G1P[8], 10 (21.2%) samples belong to G9P[4], 2 (4.3%) samples belong to G1P[4] and 2 (4.3%) samples had a mixed genotype. Rotavirus G2 genotype remains the most common genotype in these islands. The prevalence of G9 rotavirus reported in the present study is higher than that reported from mainland India. The results emphasize the role of the unusual serotype G9 as an epidemiologically important genotype and the need to include G9 specificity in a rotavirus vaccine.
Subject(s)
Diarrhea/epidemiology , Gastroenteritis/epidemiology , Rotavirus Infections/epidemiology , Rotavirus/genetics , Child, Preschool , Developing Countries , Diarrhea/virology , Feces/virology , Gastroenteritis/virology , Genotype , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , Population Surveillance/methods , Prevalence , RNA, Viral/genetics , Rotavirus/classification , Rotavirus/isolation & purification , Rotavirus Infections/virology , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Shigellosis is a major cause of diarrheal diseases among children in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India, which have a population of 350,000 people, including settlers from mainland India and 6 indigenous tribes. From the last one-and-half decade, we have been monitoring the species distribution and emergence of antibiotic resistance among the isolates of Shigella. The circulating Shigella strains have been found rapidly acquiring resistance to a wide spectrum of antibiotics. The recent data indicate that a significant proportion of Shigella isolates have been resistant to newer generation of cephalosporins, which are used as an alternative of quinolones to treat the patients with shigellosis. In this communication, we report the antibiotic-resistant pattern of Shigella isolates that are recently isolated from these islands. From January 2008 to December 2009, 311 stool samples were processed and 44 (14%) Shigella isolates were recovered. Out of these 44 Shigella isolates, 6 (14%) were found to be resistant to all the three third-generation cephalosporins tested. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the resistant isolates were all above the breakpoint for reduced susceptibility as per the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. All of the cephalosporin-resistant Shigella strains were confirmed to produce extended-spectrum ß-lactamases. By analyzing trends in the resistance patterns of the various Shigella species, we found that Shigella dysenteriae (40%) is currently more resistant, followed by Shigella flexneri (14%), than the other Shigella species in these islands of India, especially to the third-generation cephalosporins. The acquisition of resistance by enteric pathogens to the increasing number of antibacterial drugs is becoming a grave concern, particularly in developing countries where shigellosis is of a common occurrence.
