Human caliciviruses (HuCVs), including noroviruses (NoVs) and sapoviruses (SaVs), are the most common cause of diarrhea in adults and the second most common cause of diarrhea in children. Between April 2011 and March 2013, 3,832 fecal specimens were collected from outpatients with diarrhea from 17 hospitals in Beijing, China, and 669 specimens (17.5%) were positive for HuCV. Of the 287 HuCV-positive specimens, 263 (91.6%) were identified to be NoV, 23 (8.0%) were identified to be SaV, and one (0.3%) was identified to be a mixed infection of NoV and SaV. Of the 263 NoV-positive specimens, 237 (90.1%) were NoV GII, 21 (8.0%) were NoV GI, and 5 (1.9%) were a combination of NoV GI and GII. Among the 216 sequenced GII-positive samples, GII.4 was the most common genotype (70.4%, 152/216), followed by GII.13 (9.3%, 20/216). GII.4 Sydney_2012 was first detected in August 2012 and replaced GII.4 Den Haag_2006b as the predominant variant between September 2012 and March 2013. With the emergence of the GII.4 Sydney_2012 variant, 44.6% more patients with diarrhea visited the 17 hospitals (9,931 cases) than in the previous year (6,866 cases) between October and December 2012.
Keywords: calicivirus; diarrhea; genotype; norovirus; outpatient visit.
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