Huddinge University Hospital, Department of Clinical Virology, Karolinska Institut, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden1
Statens Serum Institut, Department of Virology, Copenhagen, Denmark2
Author for correspondence: Claes Örvell. Fax +46 8 58 58 1305. e-mail clor{at}labd01.hs.sll.se
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Abstract |
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Main text |
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Different mumps virus strains exhibit varying degrees of neurovirulence (Merz & Wolinsky, 1981 ; Saito et al., 1996
; Tecle et al., 1998
; Rubin et al., 1998
, 2000
). In Sweden, the relatively non-neurovirulent SBL-1 strain is the dominating strain (Tecle et al., 1998
). In the present study, the circulation of mumps virus genotypes in Denmark was studied to see if there existed a different epidemiological situation compared to Sweden.
A total of 29 mumps virus strains isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients with mumps collected between 1979 and 1989 from different parts of Denmark was studied (Table 1). After 1989, no mumps virus strains have been recovered at the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen. A total of 14 serum samples collected between 1996 and 1999 from patients with mumps was used directly for genotyping (Table 1
). All serum samples were demonstrated by serology to contain IgM antibodies against mumps virus. Background clinical information was collected. Age of patients and symptoms were recorded where this information was available. Isolation of mumps virus RNA from the different samples was performed using the QIAamp RNA mini kit (Qiagen), as described by the manufacturer. The procedures for PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of the SH gene have been described previously (Örvell et al., 1997a
, b
).
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Genotype A has been identified in Sweden from 1971 to 1999 (Tecle et al., 1998 ). Genotype A has also been found in Germany in the years 1987 and 1992. Genotype B has been found among naturally circulating strains in Japan, but not in Europe (Afzal et al., 1997
a; Örvell et al., 1997
a; Takahashi et al., 2000
). The authenticity of genotype E has been questioned (Jin et al., 1999
; M. A. Afzal, personal communication). Genotype G has been found in the UK, Europe and Nepal (Jin et al., 1999
) and genotype F has been described from China and Korea (Wu et al., 1998
). Genotypes C and D were found in Denmark and Sweden. Genotype D was dominating in Sweden in the 1970s and in Denmark in 1979 and 1980; genotype D was found up to 1982 in the present study. In Danish virus isolates from 1983 to 1984, genotype D has been found (Afzal et al., 1997
a). It is possible, therefore, that genotype D disappeared from Denmark at about the same time as that in Sweden. A surprising difference was that genotype D is now present in Denmark, but not in Sweden. After 1989, no virus isolates from the CSF of patients with meningitis have been recovered in Denmark. This is similar to the situation in Stockholm, where mumps virus isolates were not recovered after 1985 (Tecle et al., 1998
).
Different strains of mumps virus have been shown to exhibit a variable degree of neurovirulence when tested in a neonatal rat model (Rubin et al., 1998 , 2000
). The Urabe strain of genotype B and the Lo1 strain of genotype D were found to be more neurovirulent than the Jeryl Lynn strain of genotype A. Also, in clinical situations, some virus strains have been reported to be more neuropathogenic than others (Saito et al., 1996
; Tecle et al., 1998
). In the study by Tecle et al. (1998)
, genotypes C and D were found to be more neuropathogenic than the SBL-1 strain of genotype A. In the present study, all four genotypes, C, D, H and J, were found to be neurovirulent, as they were isolated from the CSF of patients with meningitis. However, the relative degree of neurovirulence between them could not be determined. An interesting finding was that five patients with genotype J showed meningitis as their only symptom.
Mumps virus outbreaks have been reported to occur in populations with high vaccine coverage (Wharton et al., 1988 ; Hersh et al., 1991
; Briss et al., 1994
; Künkel et al., 1994
, 1995
; Cheek et al., 1995
; Germann et al., 1996
; Afzal et al., 1997
b; Kim et al., 2000
). An immunological difference between genotype A and genotype D has been demonstrated (Örvell, 1984
; Yates et al., 1996
; Örvell et al., 1997b
; Nöjd et al., 2001
). Neutralizing antibodies formed after infection with genotype D could not protect against reinfection with genotype A in a patient (Nöjd et al., 2001
) and vaccination with genotype A did not protect against epidemics with either genotype C or genotype D (Künkel et al., 1994
; Ströhle et al., 1996
; Afzal et al., 1997
b). It is intriguing that genotype A is dominating in Sweden, while genotype D is dominating in the neighbouring country of Denmark. One may speculate about the possibility that the immunity against mumps virus in the two countries may not be sufficient to protect against the invasion of a heterologous genotype. In 1996, an accumulation of mumps cases was observed in the south of Sweden, Sk
ne, the area most closely located to Denmark. The virus causing this local epidemic has not yet been identified.
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Acknowledgments |
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References |
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Received 4 April 2001;
accepted 2 July 2001.