Surveillance of human astrovirus circulation in Italy 2002-2005: Emergence of lineage 2c strains

Abstract

By screening faecal samples collected over four consecutive years (2002-2005) from hospitalized children with diarrhoea in Palermo, Italy, astroviruses (HAstVs) were detected in 3.95% of the patients. The predominant type circulating was HAstV- 1 but, in 2002, only HAstV- 2 and - 4 were identified. Interestingly, the HAstVs- 2 detected appeared to be consistently different in 5' end of their open reading frame 2 from the previously described subtypes. These novel type 2 strains were included in a new 2c lineage based on the phylogenetic analysis and the presence of nine peculiar substitutions. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.