Detection and characterisation of rotaviruses from children less than 5 years hospitalised with acute gastroenteritis in Nagercoil.

Group A rotavirus continues to be the major cause of severe gastroenteritis in young children in developing countries. In this study, we report the prevalence and genotype of rotaviruses identified from children <5 years of age hospitalised with acute gastroenteritis from Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu from 2007-2010. From the 139 children included in the study, 71 samples (51%) were positive by ELISA and 65 samples were positive by PCR-based methods. G1P[8] (44.6%) was the most commonly identified genotype. In addition, we report detection of rotavirus in two of three CSF samples from children with seizures.