Rotavirus

Rotavirus

Rotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae. There are nine species of the genus, referred to as A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I and J. Rotavirus A, the most common species, causes more than 90% of rotavirus infections in humans.

About Rotavirus in brief

Summary RotavirusRotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae. There are nine species of the genus, referred to as A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I and J. Rotavirus A, the most common species, causes more than 90% of rotavirus infections in humans. The virus is transmitted by the faecal-oral route. It infects and damages the cells that line the small intestine and causes gastroenteritis. In 2013, rotaviruses caused 37 percent of deaths of children from diarrhoea and 215,000 deaths worldwide, and almost two million more became severely ill. Most of these deaths occurred in developing countries. Public health campaigns to combat rotav virus focus on providing oral rehydration therapy for infected children and vaccination to prevent the disease. In the United States, before initiation of the rotav Virus vaccination programme in the 2000s, rotvirus caused about 2. 7 million cases of severe gastroenteriti in children, almost 60,000 hospitalisations, and around 37 deaths each year. The incidence and severity of rotovirus infections has declined significantly in countries that have added rotaviral vaccine to their routine childhood immunisation policies. The role of these proteins is not entirely understood but they are thought to be related to RNA synthesis and transport of the virion, mRNA replication, and transport to the site of the virus replication.

At least six of the twelve proteins play a role in rotavavirus replication and regulation of the gene expression of the core of the genome, which is located in the core. The genome consists of 11 unique double helix molecules of RNA which are 18,555 nucleotides in total. Each helix, or segment, is a gene, numbered 1 to 11 by decreasing size. Each gene codes for one protein, except genes 9, which codes for two. Viral particles are up to 76. 5 nm in diameter and are not enveloped by a capsid. In addition to the structural proteins that form the virus particle, there are six nonstructural proteins that are only produced in infected cells. These are called NSP1, NSP2, N4, N5 and NSP6, and are only found in the cells infected by rotav Viruses. There is a role for these proteins in the replication of the genes in the genome of rotv Viruses, but their function is not understood entirely. In infections of humans only a few combinations of G and P types predominate. They are G1P, G2P, G3P,  G4P, and G9P and G12P. A–I species cause disease in other animals, species H in pigs, D,. F and G in birds, I in cats and J in bats. The A-I species also infects other animals and is a pathogen of livestock.