Genetic Variants of Echovirus 13, Northern India, 2010 - Vol. 19 No. 2 - February 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Genetic Variants of Echovirus 13, Northern India, 2010 - Vol. 19 No. 2 - February 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Georges de La Tour (1593‒1652) La Femme à la puce (The Flea Catcher) (1638) Oil on canvas (90 cm × 120 cm) Musée Lorrain, Nancy. Photo P. Mignot

 

 

Volume 19, Number 2—February 2013

Dispatch

Genetic Variants of Echovirus 13, Northern India, 2010

Article Contents

• The Study


• Conclusions


• Acknowledgments


• References


• Figure


• Table 1


• Table 2


• Suggested Citation

Harjeet Singh Maan, Rashmi Chowdhary, Akhalesh Kumar Shakya, and Tapan N. Dhole 

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India (H.S. Maan, A.K. Shakya, T.N. Dhole); Columbia University, New York, New York, USA (R. Chowdhary)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Nonpolio acute flaccid paralysis is increasing in India. To determine viral causes, we conducted cell culture and molecular analysis identification of nonpolio human enteroviruses associated with acute flaccid paralysis during March–August 2010 in northern India. The predominant nonpolio enterovirus found was echovirus 13, a serotype rarely isolated in India.

Although polio has not been reported from India since January 2011, spurts in the rate of nonpolio acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) are of concern. Therefore, other viral agents associated with AFP need to be identified, especially nonpolio human enteroviruses (HEVs), which are a major cause of neurologic illness.
The classic method for HEV serotypic identification requires virus isolation in susceptible cell cultures, followed by virus neutralization tests. However, the procedure is laborious, slow, and incapable of identifying new serotypes for which no reference antiserum is available (1). Nonpolio HEV typing based on viral protein (VP) 1 sequences has been developed and correlates well with antigenically defined serotypes (2).
Since 1998, we have been actively involved in polio surveillance and passively reporting nonpolio HEV activity in Uttar Pradesh State, northern India. Most nonpolio HEVs were isolated during the summer–autumn season and identified by using methods based on antigenic serotyping (3). We used a method combining a single cell culture passage with VP1 reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and sequencing for rapid identification of nonpolio HEV serotypes. The predominant nonpolio HEV found was echovirus (E) 13, a serotype rarely isolated in India.