Strain monitoring for emergence of novel strains after the introduction of rotavirus vaccine is an integral component of routine rotavirus immunization programs. Using a laboratory based strain surveillance system between 2008 and 2012, a wide variation in strain pattern in Colombia was founded both before and after the introduction of a monovalent rotavirus vaccine in 2009. G2P[4], a strain fully heterotypic to the vaccine was predominant before vaccine introduction in 2008 (47%) and after vaccine introduction in 2010 (54%), 2011 (86%), and 2012 (32%). The presence of this strain before the introduction of vaccine and decreasing prevalence during the most recent surveillance year suggests secular variation rather than vaccine pressure as a cause for this fluctuation. While strain monitoring can be valuable after vaccine introduction, these surveillance data alone without information on disease incidence or strain specific vaccine effectiveness can be prone to misinterpretation with regard to the role of vaccine pressure on emergence of new or persistent strains.
Keywords: diarrhea; rotavirus; serotype; strains; vaccine.
© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.