Group A rotavirus infections cause diarrhea in infants and primarily occur in winter. These viruses are characterized by the viral structural proteins VP7 (G subtypes) and VP4 (P subtypes). Current treatments employ vaccines combined with symptomatic treatments. Through a review of published papers from 2003-2013, which included articles, theses, dissertations and academic conference proceedings in PubMed and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), we examined the epidemiological and clinical studies conducted in the 7 regional administrative geographical divisions of the People's Republic of China. Binning of the clinical studies provided a quantitative synthesis of the published incidences of rotavirus-positive numbers, the infection rates and the distributions of different subtypes in the provinces. In an investigation of the 32 provincial administrative regions from 1994-2013, the number of positive infections in children, primarily ≤5 years of age, was highest in Guangdong (187,000 cases), Zhejiang (133,000 cases) and Hubei (11,000 cases) Provinces; the provinces that displayed the highest positive rates were Henan (75.20%), Jilin (64.94%) and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (60.16%). Furthermore, the virus, which causes diarrhea, can also infect adults. Statistics regarding the rotavirus subtypes indicated that the top 3 G-subtypes reported were G3 (8,509 cases), G1 (6,490 cases) and G2 (1,601 cases); the top 3 P-subtypes reported were P[8] (8,483 cases), P[4] (2,017 cases) and P[6] (740 cases). The majority of clinical treatments for these infections comprised a combination of Chinese traditional and Western medicines, together with nursing and the administration of a variety of oral liquids to relieve symptoms. The top 3 positive rates were identified in provinces at higher latitude, which confirms increases in humidity and ambient temperature reduce the rotavirus infection rate and the number of rotavirus infections tends to be highest under cool, dry conditions. However, the presence of rotavirus in low-latitude provinces likely indicates living habits, living environments, and education level influencethe precautions and vaccine utilization rate. The traditional subtypes are the rotavirus G- and P-subtypes, thus allowing for the development of vaccines. In China, the treatments that are primarily used to combat the infection are integrative medicines combining a variety of nursing and adjuvant therapies.
Keywords: G type; P type; diarrhea; epidemiology; group A rotaviruses.