1. ROTAVIRUS KEVIN ELMORE BIOL 402 POSTER PROJECT PRESENTATION

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. REFERENCES  http://www.cdc.gov/rotavirus/index.html  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotavirus  http://www.nature.com/news/gm-rice-delivers-antibodies-against-deadly- rotavirus-1.13541  Cox E. & Christenson. “Rotavirus”. Pediatrics Review. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2012  Dong Y. et al. “Rotavirus entertoxin NSP4 mobilizes intracellular calcium”. National Academy of Science. 1997  Marco et al. “Biphasic Mechanism of Rotavirus Infection”. The Journal of Infectious Disease. 2009