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70. THE VALUE OF ELECTROPHEROTYPE (EP) IN HOSPITAL OUTBREAKS OF ROTAVIRUS INFECTIONS

Hospital outbreaks of rotavirus may require ward closure thereby wasting bedspaces and manpower. Rotavirus RNA EP patterns may indicate whether a cluster of cases is a common source outbreak or represents a collection of sporadic infections from the community.We studied two wards, A: an infectious diseases ward, where 9 patients had rotavirus over a 13 day period, and B: a general infant ward where 11 patients had rotavirus over an 18 day period. In both wards some infections appeared hospital acquired. Sodium dodecyl sulphate treated stool suspensions were run overnight on 7.5% polyacrylamide gels at 16 mAmps and silver stained. Repeat runs for the same stool gave consistent results. Ward A showed two pairs of identical patterns, and 5 other individual EP's; when cross infection was clinically suspected EP's were different implying community-based infection. Ward B showed identical RNA EP's in 10/11 and the clinical pattern suggested cross infection. EP's thus indicated that in ward A most rotavirus infections were sporadic cases, but those in ward B represented a hospital outbreak.In conclusion electropherotyping can aid the investigation of hospital acquired rotavirus infections and can indicate where ward closure may be required.