Norovirus Infection and Disease in an Ecuadorian Birth Cohort: Association of Certain Norovirus Genotypes With Host FUT2 Secretor Status

Background. Although norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis, there are few data on the community incidence of infection/disease or the patterns of acquired immunity or innate resistance to norovirus. Methods. We followed a community-based birth cohort of 194 children in Ecuador with the aim to estimate (1) the incidence of norovirus gastroenteritis from birth to age 3 years, (2) the protective effect of norovirus infection against subsequent infection/disease, and (3) the association of infection and disease with FUT2 secretor status. Results. Over the 3-year period, we detected a mean of 2.26 diarrheal episodes per child (range, 0–12 episodes). Norovirus was detected in 260 samples (18%) but was not found more frequently in diarrheal samples (79 of 438 [18%]), compared with diarrhea-free samples (181 of 1016 [18%]; P= .919). A total of 66% of children had at least 1 norovirus infection during the first 3 years of life, and 40% of children had 2 infections. Previous norovirus infections were not associated with the risk of subsequent infection. All genogroup II, genotype 4 (GII.4) infections were among secretor-positive children (P< .001), but higher rates of non-GII.4 infections were found in secretor-negative children (relative risk, 0.56; P= .029). Conclusions. GII.4 infections were uniquely detected in secretor-positive children, while non-GII.4 infections were more often found in secretor-negative children.