An Outbreak of neonatal diarrhea caused by a rotavirus with specificity of P2, G4 in an obstetric roomingin ward.

Objective To identify and characterize the etiological agent of the diarrhea outbreak. Methods Stool specimens were collected from 9 newborn babies with diarrhea and 4 without diarrhea and the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to identify rotavirus dsRNA. For those rotavirus positive specimens, the genes of VP4 and VP7 were characterized by RTPCR amplification and followed by nested PCR (for VP7 gene) and dot blot hybridization (for VP4 gene). Results Identical rotavirus dsRNA patterns were detected from the those 9 specimens from babies with diarrhea, whereas out of those 4 specimens from babies without diarrhea, 3 were rotavirus negative and one was positive. The baby with rotavirus positive stool developed diarrhea after discharge from the hospital. All the rotaviruses identified from the outbreak were found to have the specificity of VP4 type 2 (P2) and VP7 type 4 (G4). Conclusion The data suggested that this outbreak of neonatal diarrhea was caused by rotavirus with the types of P2 and G4, which had been thought to cause asymptomatic infections in neonates in previously published literatures.