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Diversity of Human Rotavirus G and P Genotypes in Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic

In this study 2,089 fecal samples from patients with gastroenteritis were analyzed from different hospitals in Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic during the period comprised between December 2002 and July 2003. One hundred samples per country from the positives to the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to determine the G and P genotypes: in Panama, Costa Rica, and Dominican Republic the combinations G and P have a great diversity and unusual genotypes. These results highlight an unexpected diversity among rotavirus strains in these countries and emphasize the need for further serologic and genetic surveys on more rotavirus strains in Central America and the Caribbean. In this context, the next generation of rotavirus vaccines will need to provide adequate protection against diseases caused by unusual genotypes. These results represent the second report of rotavirus genotypes in Costa Rica and first-time reports of rotavirus genotypes in Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Received May 23, 2007. Accepted for publication September 19, 2008.

Acknowledgment: We thank Marco V. Herrero (UNA, Costa Rica) for revising the manuscript.

Financial support: The study was financially supported by the Fundación para el Avance de la Investigación Clínica y Translacional (FAICYT) and the Research and Training of Tropical Diseases in Central America (NeTropica).

^* Address correspondence to Lurys Bourdett-Stanziola, Laboratorio de Virología, Instituto de Investigaciones y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT). E-mails: lbourdett{at}aupsa.gob.pa or lurysb{at}yahoo.com

Authors’ addresses: Lurys Bourdett-Stanziola, Carlos Jiménez, and Eduardo Ortega-Barría, Laboratorio de Virología, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Heredia, Costa Rica, Tel: 507-517-0089, Fax: 507-317-0219, E-mails: lbourdett{at}aupsa.gob.pa or lurysb{at}yahoo.com.