Rotaviruses have been studied extensively predominantly by cross-sectional approaches. Such studies have yielded essentially """"""""numerator"""""""" data which indicated that rotaviruses are a major cause of diarrheal illness. There have been a few longitudinal gastroenteritis studies yielding important epidemiologic information. Therefore, we initiated an examination of anal swab and serum specimens obtained during a previous long-term longitudinal study (1955-1969) at Junior Village, a welfare institution for normal, homeless children. Anal swabs and blood specimens were obtained routinely. Surveillance was carried out by a trained medical staff. As reported previously, 139 rotavirus strains were detected with the characteristic seasonal distribution. It should be possible to establish the serotypic diversity of these strains. The subgrouping pattern of tested strains was of special interest in that both subgroup 1 and subgroup 2 viruses were detected. In addition, as noted previously, sequential sera from 384 children in residence sometime between May 19, 1963-May 31, 1966 have been tested for CF antibody to the """"""""O"""""""" agent. 150 (40%) of the children experienced at least one rotavirus infection; 11 had a second infection and one a third infection. For the period from May 22, 1966-May 21, 1969 65 (36%) of 182 children (some overlap with previous period) experienced at least one rotavirus infection, with 6 having a second infection. We will attempt to propagate selected rotavirus positive specimens in tissue culture by direct isolation or genetic reassortment in order to serotype them by recently developed techniques such as hybridization with single gene substitution reassortants or split phase immunoassay. This takes on increased importance since the natural history of strains from asymptomatic infections, which will likely be found in the longitudinal study, needs to be studied.
