The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of rotavirus A (RVA) infections in children from Kunming, China, and the RVA genotypes present. A total of 16,311 children with acute gastroenteritis were recruited for the study, and 33.1 % (5,394/16,311) were RVA positive. Children under 24 months of age were more susceptible to RVA infection, with an infection rate of 87.4 % (4,712/5,394). The most prevalent genotype was G9P[8] (85/107, 79.4 %), which showed high sequence similarity to G9P[8] strains from other regions of China and neighbouring countries, but not to the licensed vaccine strain LLR. These findings should be useful for the prevention of RVA infections.
Keywords: Children; Epidemiology; Gastroenteritis; Genotype; Rotavirus A.