Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Group A Rotavirus Genotypes in Moscow (2019-2020).

Group A rotavirus (RVA) infection is the leading cause of hospitalization of children under 5 years old, presenting with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. The aim of our study was to explore the genetic diversity of RVA among patients admitted to Moscow Infectious Disease Clinical Hospital No. 1 with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis. A total of 653 samples were collected from May 2019 through March 2020. Out of them, 135 (20.67%) fecal samples were found to be positive for rotavirus antigen by ELISA. RT-PCR detected rotavirus RNA in 80 samples. Seven G-genotypes (G1, G2, G3, G4, G8, G9, and G12) and three P-genotypes (P[8], P[4], and P[6]) formed 9 different combinations. The most common combination was G9P[8]. However, for the first time in Moscow, the combination G3P[8] took second place. Moreover, all detected viruses of this combination belonged to Equine-like G3P[8] viruses that had never been detected in Russia before. The genotype G8P[8] and G9P[4] rotaviruses were also detected in Moscow for the first time. Among the studied rotaviruses, there were equal proportions of Wa and DS-1-like strains; previous studies showed that Wa-like strains accounted for the largest proportion of rotaviruses in Russia.

Epidemiological and etiological features of travel-related febrile illnesses in hospitalized Russian children and adults: A single-centre, retrospective analysis in Moscow.

BACKGROUND: A number of factors can lead to differences in infectious disease morbidity in children versus adults after a trip abroad. We aimed to investigate the epidemiological and etiological features of infectious diseases in children after international travel. METHODS: we analyzed the medical records of 2135 patients (416 children) who were hospitalized during the period 2009-2017 after return from international travel. RESULTS: Hospitalized children were under the age of 1 year in 8.7% of cases, 1-3 years - 39.4%, 4-6 years - 17.3%, 7-11 years - 16.8%, 12-17 years - 17.8%. Children were hospitalized after visiting the following main destinations: Turkey (15%), Egypt (12%), Central Asia microregion [11%] and Thailand (9%). Hospitalizations among children occurred mainly in summer (38.0%; CI 33.3-42.4). In adults there were no significant seasonal differences. Children were more likely to have acute diarrhea (18.3 vs 11.1%), acute respiratory tract infections (51.2 vs 41.2%) and enterovirus infections (8.2 vs 3.1%). Among the non-endemic infections for Russia, 8 children were diagnosed with dengue fever, 1 with typhoid, 1 with malaria, and 1 with wild-poliovirus excretion. CONCLUSION: children were mainly hospitalized during summer. Among hospitalized children, almost half was under 3 years old. In children acute respiratory infection and intestinal infections predominated, while in adults, vector-borne diseases were more frequently observed.

Two Cases of Dengue Fever Imported from Egypt to Russia, 2017.

In 2017, two cases of dengue fever were imported from Hurghada, Egypt, where dengue fever was not considered endemic, to Moscow. These cases show how emergence of dengue fever in popular resort regions on the coast of the Red Sea can spread infection to countries where it is not endemic.