ROTAVIRUS KEVIN ELMORE BIOL 402 POSTER PROJECT PRESENTATION
WHAT IS ROTAVIRUS? Discovered in 1973 Rotavirus causes gastroenteritis Results in severe watery diarrhea; especially in babies and young children Globally, rotavirus causes half a million deaths a year in children under 5
VIRAL MORPHOLOGY & DISEASE MECHANISM Reoviridae Family – family that affects GI tract Seven species of the virus: A, B, C, D, E, F, G Most common is Rotavirus A Non-enveloped and icosahedral capsule; double shelled Genome has 11 dsRNA segments; codes for 12 proteins 6 structural proteins 6 non-structural proteins
TRANSMISSION, SYMPTOMS, SIGNS & TREATMENTS Transmitted via oral-fecal pathway Contaminated food, water, hands, disease vectors (flies), etc. Characterized by water diarrhea and low grade fever Dehydration is common problem and most common cause of death Treatment is nonspecific WHO recommends use of low- osmolarity oral rehydration and zinc supplementation
NSP4 MECHANISMS – AN ENTEROTOXIN Enzymatic activities of brush border are decreased Cellular permeability is increased Results in abrupt onset of symptoms and associated massive fluid loss Enterotoxin Effect in Enterocytes: Chloride secretion via Ca++ dependent mechanism Cell lysis and tissue damage Marco et al. “Biphasic Mechanism of Rotavirus Infection”. The Journal of Infectious Disease.
Human Ig vs. Rotavirus Study shows that human immunoglobulin can inhibit early secretion induced by rotavirus Marco et al. “Biphasic Mechanism of Rotavirus Infection”. The Journal of Infectious Disease.
EPIDEMIOLOGY Endemic worldwide but not much of a problem in developed world Vaccines – RotaTaq and Rotarix Still major problem in developing world – Africa, India, SE Asia Largest recent outbreak was in Nicaragua (2005) mutant strain which escape acquired immunity of population
REFERENCES rotavirus Cox E. & Christenson. “Rotavirus”. Pediatrics Review. American Academy of Pediatrics Dong Y. et al. “Rotavirus entertoxin NSP4 mobilizes intracellular calcium”. National Academy of Science Marco et al. “Biphasic Mechanism of Rotavirus Infection”. The Journal of Infectious Disease. 2009