Understanding the epidemiology of human norovirus infection in children within Ghana and the entire sub-Saharan African region, where future norovirus vaccines would have the greatest impact, is essential. We analyzed 1337 diarrheic stool samples collected from children <5 years from January 2008 to December 2017 and found 485 (36.2%) shedding the virus. GII.4 (54.1%), GII.3 (7.7%), GII.6 (5.3%), GII.17 (4.7%), and GII.5 (4.7%) were the most common norovirus genotypes. Although norovirus GII.4 remained the predominant capsid genotype throughout the study period, an increase in GII.6 and GII.3 capsid genotypes was observed in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The severity of clinical illness in children infected with GII.4 norovirus strains was similar to illness caused by non-GII.4 strains. Since the epidemiology of norovirus changes rapidly, establishment of systematic surveillance within sentinel sites across the country would enhance the monitoring of circulating norovirus strains and allow continuous understanding of norovirus infection in Ghana.

中文翻译：

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了解小儿诺如病毒的流行病学：加纳儿童中的十年研究

必须了解加纳和整个撒哈拉以南非洲地区儿童的人类诺如病毒感染的流行病学，未来诺如病毒疫苗将对这些地区产生最大的影响。我们分析了从2008年1月至2017年12月的5岁以下儿童收集的1337例腹泻大便样本，发现485例（36.2％）脱落了病毒。GII.4（54.1％），GII.3（7.7％），GII.6（5.3％），GII.17（4.7％）和GII.5（4.7％）是最常见的诺如病毒基因型。尽管在整个研究期间，诺如病毒GII.4仍然是衣壳的主要基因型，但在2013年和2014年分别观察到GII.6和GII.3衣壳的基因型增加。GII.4诺如病毒株感染儿童的临床疾病严重程度与非GII.4株引起的疾病相似。由于诺如病毒的流行病学变化迅速，