Re-emergence of genotype G9 during a five-and-a-half-year period in Turkish children with rotavirus diarrhea.

This study was done to understand the dynamics of rotavirus genotype distribution in Turkish children. Samples were collected from January 2006 through August 2011 from children at a hospital in Ankara. Rotavirus was detected in 28 % (241/889) of the samples. Genotype G9P[8] was predominant (28 %), followed by G1P[8] (16.3 %) and G2P[8] (15.9 %). G9 was absent in the samples from 2006 and 2007 and then re-emerged in 2008 and increased gradually. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Turkish G9 rotaviruses of the present study formed a sublineage with strains from Italy and Ethiopia, possibly indicating spread of a clone in these countries.