SEROTYPES AND ELECTROPHEROTYPES OF HUMAN ROTAVIRUS IN THE USA - 1987-1989

The epidemiology of rotavirus gastroenteritis was investigated for two consecutive seasons (1987–1988 and 1988–1989) in seven locales in the continental USA. The 281 representative fecal samples obtained from children with diarrhea were electropherotyped and serotyped by an enzyme immunoassay with serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies and a new amplification typing technique (polymerase chain reaction typing). Serotype 1 was predominant in both years, particularly in the North and East; serotype 3 was second in frequency and found most often in the South; serotype 2 was detected only occasionally; serotypes 4, 8, and 9 were never found. Rotavirus strains were grouped into five major electropherotypes, each corresponded to a single serotype, and the relative migration of the gene segments 7–9 could be used to distinguish serotype 1 from serotype 3. The amplification typing technique proved to be of great value in typing the 17% of rotavirus-positive specimens untypable by the serologic technique. © 1990, by The University of Chicago.