Molecular Epidemiology of Norovirus in Iran: A Common Cause of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children and Adults

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESAcute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a global public health issue and the second leading cause of morbidity. Advancements in sanitation, water purification, and food safety have replaced bacteria as the primary cause of AGE. Noroviruses (NoVs) are one of the most frequent causes of viral gastroenteritis, belong to the Caliciviridae, subdivided into ۱۰ genogroups (GI-GX) that genogroups GI, GII, and GIV infect humans. Molecular epidemiology is crucial for understanding NoV infection spread in Iran. This abstract aims to identify the most frequent genogroups and genotypes of NoV circulating in Iran.MATERIALS AND METHODSCommon databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus were used for the literature search on NoV molecular detection in Iran.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONAccording to studies from ۲۰۰۸ to ۲۰۲۲, NoV prevalence in Iranian AGE ranged from ۰.۶% to ۳۱.۱۷%. NoV genogroup GII is more prevalent, causing severe infections in children which NoV GII and GI identified in ۶۵% to ۱۰۰% and ۱۳.۳۰% to ۳۵%, respectively. However, none of the studies detected any infection case of genogroup GIV. GII۴, GII.۸ and GII.۳ are the most common genotypes found in ۷۷.۸%, ۳۲% and ۱۳.۹% of AGE cases in Iran, respectively, although fewer percentages for GII.۲, GII.۶, GII.۷, GII.۱۷ and GII.۱۲ were identified. A recent study in ۲۰۲۲ demonstrated the newly emerging GII.۸, GII.۱۷ and genotype that presents a new pattern of NoV circulation in children less than ۵ years of age with AGE in Iran.CONCLUSION This study describes prevalent NoV genotypes in Iran that were similar to other studies worldwide. Despite the decrease in mortality with AGE, the prevalence of enteric viruses has not decreased in recent years. Identification of viruses is not routinely performed in Iran’s hospitals and clinical diagnostic laboratories. Understanding the molecular epidemiology of norovirus in Iran can aid in outbreak investigation and prevent further spread of the disease. Due to low infection doses, high viral excretion rates by infected individuals, the emergence of novel NoV genotypes, and the presence of the virus in contaminated food and aquatic environments, further studies are critical to characterizing the NoV circulating in the general population and high-risk environments.

کلیدواژه ها:

Molecular epidemiology ، Norovirus ، Acute gastroenteritis ، Iran