Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program annual report, 2013.

This report from the Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program, together with collaborating laboratories Australia-wide, describes the rotavirus genotypes responsible for the hospitalisation of children with acute gastroenteritis during the period 1 January to 31 December 2013. During the survey period, 1,035 faecal samples were referred for rotavirus G and P genotype analysis. Of these 828 were confirmed as rotavirus positive. A total of 503 specimens were collected from children under 5 years of age, while 325 were from older children and adults. Genotype analysis of the 828 rotavirus samples collected from both children and adults revealed that G12P[8] was the dominant genotype in this reporting period, identified in 33% of strains nationally. Genotype G3P[8] was the second most common strain nationally, representing 31% of samples, followed by genotype G2P[4] (14%). This represents the first report where G12P[8] strains are the major cause of disease in this population. The genotype distribution was slightly altered when the analysis was restricted to samples collected from children under 5 years of age, with G3P[8] being the dominant genotype (39.2%) followed by G12P[8] as the second most common genotype (31%). Fluctuations in genotype distribution were also observed based on the vaccine type in use. Genotype G12P[8] was more common in states and territories using RotaTeq, while G3P[8] was more common in the locations using Rotarix. This survey highlights the yearly fluctuations in rotavirus genotypes observed since vaccine introduction, with changes in dominant genotypes an annual event. The emergence of G12P[8] as the dominant genotype further illustrates the ongoing changes in the wild type rotavirus population evident in the Australian population since vaccine introduction. This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce the whole or part of this work in unaltered form for your own personal use or, if you are part of an organisation, for internal use within your organisation, but only if you or your organisation do not use the reproduction for any commercial purpose and retain this copyright notice and all disclaimer notices as part of that reproduction. Apart from rights to use as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 or allowed by this copyright notice, all other rights are reserved and you are not allowed to reproduce the whole or any part of this work in any way (electronic or otherwise) without first being given the specific written permission from the Commonwealth to do so. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights are to be sent to the Online, Services and External Relations Branch, Department of Health, GPO Box 9848, Canberra ACT 2601, or by email to copyright@health.gov.au.