Large increase of rotavirus diarrhoea in the hospital setting associated with emergence of G12 genotype in a highly vaccinated population in Nicaragua

Rotaviruses (RVs) are a major cause of severe diarrhoea in young children. Nicaragua introduced routine immunization with the pentavalent RV vaccine (RV5) in 2006, which greatly reduced the incidence of diarrhoea. A remaining concern has been the possible emergence of new RV strains to which the vaccination has less effect. In this study, 837 children with diarrhoea in hospital settings were investigated for RV between May 2011 and July 2013. RVs were subsequently typed by multiplex PCR and/or sequencing. Fecal anti-RV IgA titres for a subset of RV-infected (n = 137) and noninfected children (n = 52) were determined with an in-house enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The RV detection rate was 8% in 2011, followed by a sharp increase to 29% in 2012 and 19% in 2013. This was associated with emergence and predominance of genotype G12 RV, from 0% in 2011 to 66% in 2012 and 82% in 2013, infecting children from 1 month to 10 years of age. Two sequenced G12 strains showed a Wa-like genome with genotype G12-P[8]-I1-R1-C1-M1-A1-N1-T1-E1-H1, similar to the globally emerging G12 strains. Fecal anti-RV IgA analysis showed that most G12-infected and noninfected children had been in contact with either vaccine or wild RV strains, but such antibodies did not prevent symptomatic G12 infection. A marked increase of RV was evident in the hospital setting associated with a nationwide emergence and predominance of RV G12 genotype in a population with high RV5 vaccine coverage.