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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1414698
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular Pathogenesis of Enteroviruses: Insights into Viral-Host Interactions, Pathogenic Mechanisms, and Microbiome Dynamics View all articles

Enterovirus genotype diversity with emergence of coxsackievirus A2 circulating in pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis in Thailand, 2019-2022

Provisionally accepted
Zhenfeng Xie Zhenfeng Xie 1Pattara Khamrin Pattara Khamrin 1Nutthawadee Jampanil Nutthawadee Jampanil 1Arpaporn Yodmeeklin Arpaporn Yodmeeklin 1Nuthapong Ukarapol Nuthapong Ukarapol 2Niwat Maneekarn Niwat Maneekarn 1Kattareeya Kumthip Kattareeya Kumthip 1,3*
  • 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 2 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • 3 Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Enteroviruses (EVs) are recognized as potential causative agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology and molecular characteristics of EV infection in children admitted to hospitals with AGE in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 2019 to 2022. Methods: A total of 1148 fecal samples collected from patients with AGE were screened for the presence of EV using RT-PCR. The prevalence, co-infection with common diarrheal viruses, and seasonal pattern of EV were examined. The genotypes of EV were identified based on the VP1 sequence and phylogenetic analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of EV in AGE patients was 8.8% (101/1148).After the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, a significant decrease in the EV infection rate and genotype diversity was observed (p<0.05). EV infection alone was observed in 68.3% (69/101) of cases while coinfection with other enteric viruses was 31.7% (32/101). The seasonal pattern of EV infection showed a peak prevalence during the rainy season. EV species A was the most prevalent(37.5%), followed by species B (32.3%), species C (29.2%), and species D (1.0%). Twenty-five genotypes of EV were identified with the most predominant of the coxsackievirus being A2 (CV-A2) (13.5%), CV-B2 (7.3%) and CV-A24(5.2%). Conclusions: Our data demonstrate a significant decrease in the prevalence and diversity of EV circulating in AGE patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the emergence of CV-A2 during this study period. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the molecular epidemiology and diversity of EV in patients with AGE and provide useful information for further investigation into the potential association between specific EV genotypes and AGE in future studies.

    Keywords: Acute gastroenteritis, coxsackievirus, Enterovirus, pediatric patients, Thailand

    Received: 09 Apr 2024; Accepted: 17 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xie, Khamrin, Jampanil, Yodmeeklin, Ukarapol, Maneekarn and Kumthip. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kattareeya Kumthip, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

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