Emergence and continuous evolution of genotype 1E rubella viruses in China.

Abstract

In China, rubella vaccination was introduced into the national immunization program in 2008, and a rubella epidemic occurred in the same year. In order to know whether changes in the genotypic distribution of rubella viruses have occurred in the postvaccination era, we investigate in detail the epidemiological profile of rubella in China and estimate the evolutionary rate, molecular clock phylogeny, and demographic history of the predominant rubella virus genotypes circulating in China using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo phylodynamic analyses. 1E was found to be the predominant rubella virus genotype since its initial isolation in China in 2001, and no genotypic shift has occurred since then. The results suggest that the global 1E genotype may have diverged in 1995 and that it has evolved at a mutation rate of 1.65 × 10(-3) per site per year. The Chinese 1E rubella virus isolates were grouped into either cluster 1 or cluster 2, which likely originated in 1997 and 2006, respectively. Cluster 1 viruses were found in all provinces examined in this study and had a mutation rate of 1.90 × 10(-3) per site per year. The effective number of infections remained constant until 2007, and along with the introduction of rubella vaccine into the national immunization program, although the circulation of cluster 1 viruses has not been interrupted, some viral lineages have disappeared, and the epidemic started a decline that led to a decrease in the effective population size. Cluster 2 viruses were found only in Hainan Province, likely because of importation.

• Authors: Zhen Zhu, Aili Cui, Huanhuan Wang, Yan Zhang, Chunyu Liu, Changyin Wang, Shujie Zhou, Xia Chen, Zhenying Zhang, Daxin Feng, Yan Wang, Haiyun Chen, Zhengfan Pan, Xiangjie Zeng, Jianhui Zhou, Shuang Wang, Xin Chang, Yue Lei, Hong Tian, Yang Liu, Shunde Zhou, Jun Zhan, Hui Chen, Suyi Gu, Xiaoling Tian, Jianfeng Liu, Ying Chen, Hong Fu, Xiuhui Yang, Huanying Zheng, Leng Liu, Lei Zheng, Hui Gao, Jilan He, Li Sun, Wenbo Xu
• Journal: Journal of clinical microbiology (J Clin Microbiol) Vol. 50 Issue 2 Pg. 353-63 (Feb 2012) ISSN: 1098-660X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22162559 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• RNA, Viral

Topics

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• China (epidemiology)
• Cluster Analysis
• Evolution, Molecular
• Female
• Genotype
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Phylogeny
• RNA, Viral (genetics)
• Rubella (epidemiology, virology)
• Rubella virus (classification, genetics)
• Sequence Analysis, DNA
• Young Adult