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Virus Genes 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Department of Virology and Parasitology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, 470-1192, Japan.

The exact evolutionary patterns of human G4P[6] rotavirus strains remain to be elucidated. Such strains possess unique and strain-specific genotype constellations, raising the question of whether G4P[6] strains are primarily transmitted via independent interspecies transmission or human-to-human transmission after interspecies transmission. Two G4P[6] rotavirus strains were identified in fecal specimens from hospitalized patients with severe diarrhea in Thailand, namely, DU2014-259 (RVA/Human-wt/THA/DU2014-259/2014/G4P[6]) and PK2015-1-0001 (RVA/Human-wt/THA/PK2015-1-0001/2015/G4P[6]). Read More

Vaccine 2021 Jun 3;39(29):3825-3833. Epub 2021 Jun 3.

Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence (ARCHE), Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Introduction: The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) makes recommendations for vaccines in Canada. To inform considerations for equity when making recommendations, the NACI Secretariat developed a matrix of factors that may influence vaccine equity. To inform the matrix we mapped the evidence for PROGRESS And Other factors potentially associated with unequal levels of illness or death from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) and systematically reviewed the evidence for interventions aimed at reducing inequities. Read More

J Trop Pediatr 2021 05;67(2)

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Background: Diarrhoea remains among the highest causes of death in children under 5 years of age in developing countries. Before the introduction of rotavirus vaccine in Tanzania, rotavirus infection was the leading cause of severe diarrhoea in children below the age of 5 years but there is a paucity of studies reporting the severity of this infection after the introduction of rotavirus vaccine. This hospital-based study reports the proportion of children with rotavirus-associated diarrhoea in Dar es Salaam, its severity and associated factors. Read More

Brain Dev 2021 May 29. Epub 2021 May 29.

Department of Pediatrics, Soka Municipal Hospital, Saitama, Japan.

Background: Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) comprises a range of conditions in which prolonged electrographic seizures result in nonconvulsive clinical symptoms. An understanding of NCSE is especially important in emergency care. Among the various causes of NCSE, an infectious etiology has been rarely reported to date. Read More

Indian J Pediatr 2021 May 31. Epub 2021 May 31.

The INCLEN Trust International, F1/5, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi, 110020, India.

Objective: To report background intussusception epidemiology in children under-two years in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu state, India, prior to rotavirus vaccine (RVV) introduction.

Methods: Prospective sentinel surveillance was done at four hospitals in Coimbatore during April 2016 to September 2017. The children aged >1 mo and < 24 mo with diagnosed intussusception were recruited and data on clinical, treatment, diet, immunization, and sociodemography were collected. Read More

Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021 May 25:1-6. Epub 2021 May 25.

Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Although two live oral rotavirus (RV) vaccines, Rotarix and RotaTeq, play a critical role toward reducing disease severity, hospitalization, and death rate in RV infections, regular monitoring of vaccine effectiveness (VE) is yet necessary because the segmented genome structure and reassortment capability of RVs pose considerable threats toward waning VE. In this study, we examined the VE by a test-negative study design against G9P[8]I2 strain during a seasonal outbreak in February-May, 2018, in an outpatient clinic in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It remains important because G9P[8]I2 strain remains partially heterotypic to these vaccines and predominating in post-vaccination era. Read More

Vaccine 2021 Jun 12;39(27):3633-3640. Epub 2021 May 12.

PATH, India. Electronic address:

Background And Aims: ROTAVAC® (frozen formulation stored at -20 °C) and ROTAVAC 5D® (liquid formulation stable at 2-8 °C) are rotavirus vaccines derived from the 116E human neonatal rotavirus strain, developed and licensed in India. This study evaluated and compared the safety and immunogenicity of these vaccines in an infant population in Zambia.

Methods: We conducted a phase 2b, open-label, randomized, controlled trial wherein 450 infants 6 to 8 weeks of age were randomized equally to receive three doses of ROTAVAC or ROTAVAC 5D, or two doses of ROTARIX®. Read More

Infect Dis Now 2021 May 12. Epub 2021 May 12.

GPIP, Groupe de Pathologie Infectieuse Pédiatrique, Créteil, France; Service de pédiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Armand Trousseau, Paris, France.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced incidence of many viral and bacterial infections has been reported in children: bronchiolitis, varicella, measles, pertussis, pneumococcal and meningococcal invasive diseases. The purpose of this opinion paper is to discuss various situations that could lead to larger epidemics when the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) imposed by the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic will no longer be necessary. While NPIs limited the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, they also reduced the spread of other pathogens during and after lockdown periods, despite the re-opening of schools since June 2020 in France. Read More

Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2021 May 14. Epub 2021 May 14.

The Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Purpose: Sensitivity analyses have played an important role in pharmacoepidemiology studies using electronic health records data. Despite the existence of quantitative bias analysis in pharmacoepidemiologic studies, simultaneously adjusting for unmeasured and partially measured confounders is challenging in vaccine safety studies. Our objective was to develop a flexible approach for conducting sensitivity analyses of unmeasured and partially-measured confounders concurrently for a vaccine safety study. Read More

Infect Genet Evol 2021 May 8:104898. Epub 2021 May 8.

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Emerging and Re-emerging Diarrheal Viruses Cluster, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address:

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) are the major viruses that cause acute gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype diversity of RVAs circulating in children with acute gastroenteritis in Thailand in 2018-2019. A total of 1170 stool specimens were obtained from children admitted to hospitals with diarrhea and screened for RVAs by nested RT-PCR. Read More

Vaccine 2021 05 29;39(22):2917-2928. Epub 2021 Apr 29.

Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Mittlestrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Children's University Hospital of Bern, University of Bern, Freiburgstrasse, 3010 Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Background: Rotavirus (RV) infection is the leading cause of diarrhoea-associated morbidity and mortality globally among children under 5 years of age. RV vaccination is available, but has not been implemented in many national immunisation plans, especially in highly developed countries. This systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of health care use for RV gastroenteritis (RVGE) among children aged under 5 years in highly developed countries without routine RV vaccination. Read More

Vaccine 2021 05 28;39(22):3018-3024. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, 3-25-13 Tonomachi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-0821, Japan.

The Japanese immunization program has made considerable progress since 2009: several new vaccines have been introduced and most are included in the National Immunization Program (NIP). In October 2020, the Japanese law on immunization was revised, which resulted in a few laudable achievements. First, rotavirus vaccines were added to the NIP, 10 years after their introduction, and noteworthy studies of vaccine effectiveness and the incidence of intussusception in Japanese children were published. Read More

Pathogens 2021 Apr 1;10(4). Epub 2021 Apr 1.

The Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632004, India.

In April 2016, an indigenous monovalent rotavirus vaccine (Rotavac) was introduced to the National Immunization Program in India. Hospital-based surveillance for acute gastroenteritis was conducted in five sentinel sites from 2012 to 2020 to monitor the vaccine impact on various genotypes and the reduction in rotavirus positivity at each site. Stool samples collected from children under 5 years of age hospitalized with diarrhea were tested for group A rotavirus using a commercial enzyme immunoassay, and rotavirus strains were characterized by RT-PCR. Read More

J Paediatr Child Health 2021 Apr 28. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Aim: We piloted a hand hygiene (HH) project in a ward, focusing on World Health Organization moments 1 and 4. Our aim was to design highly reliable interventions to achieve >90% compliance.

Methods: Baseline HH compliance was 57 and 67% for moments 1, 4, respectively, in 2015. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2021 Apr;100(16):e25593

Department of Pediatrics, Haikou Hospital of the Matemal and Child Health, NO.6 Wentan Road, Guoxing Avenue, Qiongshan District, Haikou City, Hainan Province, China.

Background: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine preparation XPYEG combined with SBI and SBI alone in the treatment of REC, and to provide the reference in drugs for the clinical treatment of children with rotavirus enteritis.

Methods: Retrieving the English databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase; Chinese databases: CNKI, CBM and WANFANG Data. Retrieving a randomized controlled trial of XPYEG and SBI in the treatment of REC. Read More

J Infect Chemother 2021 Jul 15;27(7):940-948. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, 060-8543, Japan.

In Japan, a monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1) and a pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) were launched as voluntary vaccinations in November 2011 and July 2012, respectively. Rotavirus (RV) vaccine coverage in Japan increased from 30.0% in 2012 to 78. Read More

Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021 Jul 16;17(7):2298-2310. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Vaccine Analytics and Formulation Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.

Formulation development was performed with the live, attenuated, human neonatal rotavirus vaccine candidate (RV3-BB) with three main objectives to facilitate use in low- and middle- income countries including (1) a liquid, 2-8°C stable vaccine, (2) no necessity for pre-neutralization of gastric acid prior to oral administration of a small-volume dose, and (3) a low-cost vaccine dosage form. Implementation of a high-throughput RT-qPCR viral infectivity assay for RV3-BB, which correlated well with traditional FFA assays in terms of monitoring RV3-BB stability profiles, enabled more rapid and comprehensive formulation development studies. A wide variety of different classes and types of pharmaceutical excipients were screened for their ability to stabilize RV3-BB during exposure to elevated temperatures, freeze-thaw and agitation stresses. Read More

J Gen Virol 2021 Apr;102(4)

Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.

Group A rotaviruses (RVAs) infect a wide variety of mammalian and avian species. Animals act as a potential reservoir to RVA human infections by direct virion transmission or by contributing genes to reassortants. Here, we report the molecular characterization of a rare human RVA strain Ni17-46 with a genotype G15P[14], isolated in Japan in 2017 during rotavirus surveillance in a paediatric outpatient clinic. Read More

PLoS One 2021 8;16(4):e0249714. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique.

Background: Rotavirus vaccines have been adopted in African countries since 2009, including Mozambique (2015). Disease burden data are needed to evaluate the impact of rotavirus vaccine. We report the burden of rotavirus-associated diarrhea in Mozambique from the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) before vaccine introduction. Read More

Drugs Context 2021 26;10. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.

Background: Viral gastroenteritis is the most common diarrhoeal disorder seen in general practice and emergency departments. This article aims to provide a narrative updated review on the evaluation and management of viral gastroenteritis in children.

Methods: A PubMed search was performed with Clinical Queries using the key term 'viral gastroenteritis'. Read More

J Infect Dis 2021 Apr 2. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

Background: Following the implementation of rotavirus vaccination in 2006, severe acute gastroenteritis (AGE) due to group A rotavirus (RVA) has substantially declined in USA (US) children. We report the RVA genotype prevalence as well as co-infection data from seven US New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN) sites during three consecutive RVA seasons, 2014-2016.

Methods: A total of 1041 stool samples that tested positive for RVA by Rotaclone enzyme immunoassay (EIA) were submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for RVA genotyping and multipathogen testing. Read More

Pathogens 2021 Mar 16;10(3). Epub 2021 Mar 16.

Enteric Diseases Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville 3052, Australia.

In May, 2017, an outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis was reported that predominantly impacted Aboriginal children ≤4 years of age in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. G2P[4] was identified as the dominant genotype circulating during this period and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed the majority of samples exhibited a conserved electropherotype. Full genome sequencing was performed on representative samples that exhibited the archetypal DS-1-like genome constellation: G2-P[4]-I2-R2-C2-M2-A2-N2-T2-E2-H2 and phylogenetic analysis revealed all genes of the outbreak samples were closely related to contemporary Japanese G2P[4] samples. Read More

Children (Basel) 2021 Mar 30;8(4). Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Pediatrics, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 22332, Korea.

There have been no large-scale studies on the epidemiology of benign convulsions with mild gastroenteritis (CwG) since the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in South Korea in 2007. This study aimed to analyze the trends in rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) and rotavirus-associated CwG (RaCwG) after rotavirus vaccination. Further, we aimed to analyze changes in norovirus gastroenteritis (NVGE) and norovirus-associated CwG (NaCwG) using nationwide data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Read More

J Clin Med 2021 Mar 25;10(7). Epub 2021 Mar 25.

Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu 42415, Korea.

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is prevalent in children aged 2-5 years but may occur in all pediatric age groups. In 50-60% of pediatric patients, ITP is preceded by an upper respiratory tract infection 1-4 weeks before its onset. In this study, the relationship between the development of ITP and viral infections in children was assessed. Read More

Pathogens 2021 Mar 17;10(3). Epub 2021 Mar 17.

Asia-Pacific Health Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.

The introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, Rotarix, into the Fiji National Immunisation Program in 2012 has reduced the burden of rotavirus disease and hospitalisations in children less than 5 years of age. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of rotavirus genotype diversity from 2005 to 2018; to investigate changes following the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine in Fiji. Faecal samples from children less than 5 years with acute diarrhoea between 2005 to 2018 were analysed at the WHO Rotavirus Regional Reference Laboratory at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and positive samples were serotyped by EIA (2005-2006) or genotyped by heminested RT-PCR (2007 onwards). Read More

Intervirology 2021 Mar 30:1-4. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, Pediatrics Laboratory, University of Turin, Medical School, Turin, Italy.

Three newly discovered viruses have been recently described in diarrheal patients: Cosavirus (CosV) and Salivirus (SalV), 2 picornaviruses, and bufavirus (BuV), a parvovirus. The detection rate and the role of these viruses remain to be established in acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in diarrheal Italian infants. From November 2016 to November 2017, stool samples were collected from 160 children <5 years old suffering from AGE and attending the Children's Hospital in Turin, Italy. Read More

Pediatr Int 2021 Mar 29. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.

Background: Large numbers of patients with diseases preventable by voluntary vaccines have been reported in Japan. However, it is difficult to analyze the impact of voluntary vaccination on disease prevention, as the governments do not aggregate the number of recipients of vaccines that are not included in the national immunization program. This study investigated the association between the coverage rates of two voluntary vaccines (rotavirus and mumps vaccines) and the incidence of the diseases preventable by these vaccines. Read More

Vaccine 2021 04 18;39(15):2048-2059. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Batavia Biosciences BV, Zernikedreef 16, 2333CL Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

Despite solid evidence of the success of rotavirus vaccines in saving children from fatal gastroenteritis, more than 82 million infants worldwide still lack access to a rotavirus vaccine. The main barriers to global rotavirus vaccine coverage include cost, manufacturing capacity and suboptimal efficacy in low- and lower-middle income countries. One vaccine candidate with the potential to address the latter is based on the novel, naturally attenuated RV3 strain of rotavirus, RV3-BB vaccine administered in a birth dose strategy had a vaccine efficacy against severe rotavirus gastroenteritis of 94% at 12 months of age in infants in Indonesia. Read More

Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021 Mar 2:1-2. Epub 2021 Mar 2.

Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The most important approach for the management of hereditary fructose intolerance is a strict avoidance of fructose, sucrose and sorbitol from the diet and medications. A safe threshold of 2.4 mg/kg/dose was recently established by the of Italy for both oral and parenteral routes, thus shouldering a safe administration of a majority of vaccines in these patients. Read More

Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021 Feb 20. Epub 2021 Feb 20.

Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Background: Pregnant women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at increased risk of developing complications from vaccine-preventable infections. We investigated the factors influencing vaccine administration in pregnant women with IBD and their infants, in addition to the safety of vaccination in the infants.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified individuals from a tertiary referral clinic whose records were linked to a provincial vaccine database. Read More