Relative frequency of rotavirus subgroups 1 and 2 in Venezuelan children with gastroenteritis as assayed with monoclonal antibodies.

Monoclonal antibodies recently developed against the 42,000-dalton protein of two rotavirus strains were used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the subgroup specificity of 252 specimens collected during a 45-month period from Venezuelan children with rotavirus gastroenteritis. Subgroup 2 rotavirus was shed by 85% of the children, whereas only 14% shed subgroup 1 rotavirus (one-half of them in a 3-month period). No differences were found in the occurrence of fever and vomiting between children shedding either rotavirus subgroup, but it appeared that the syndrome tended to last longer in children shedding subgroup 2 rotavirus. The monoclonal subgrouping enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay seemed to be more sensitive than an immune adherence hemagglutination assay, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with polyclonal antibodies, or the electrophoretic analysis of RNA extracted from the virus. Overall, 99% of the specimens could be subgrouped by this assay.