Molecular virology and pediatric enteric infections.

Objective

To determine whether temperature, humidity and precipitation influence the prevalence and electrophoretic patterns of rotavirus and adenovirus in children under four years of age in Bogotá.

Population & samples

494 diarrheal stool samples from children under four collected across five pediatric centers in Bogotá between June 1996 and June 1998; 209 were also tested for adenovirus and 104 were electropherotyped.

Methods

Rotavirus screening by ELISA (Kallestad); adenovirus screening with a commercial EIA kit (Dako); electropherotyping of rotavirus-positive samples by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Climatic data were sourced from the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) and analyzed by regression.

Key findings

Rotavirus prevalence 32%; adenovirus prevalence 18.5%. Six distinct rotavirus electropherotypes were identified. No statistical correlation was found between climatic variables and viral prevalence or electropherotype distribution — consistent with endemic circulation in equatorial tropical zones.

Scientific relevance

Provided one of the local characterizations of enteric viral circulation in a tropical highland Latin-American setting, informing later work on molecular characterization of rotavirus in Colombia.

Marcela Riaño Caro's documented role

Listed co-author (Marcela Riaño), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Objective

To characterize the viral, bacterial and parasitic agents associated with infectious acute diarrhea in a high-altitude tropical setting with mildly changing seasonal weather.

Population & samples

Stool samples from 300 children under five years of age, collected over a one-year period in Facatativá, Colombia.

Methods

Bacteria and intestinal parasites identified by routine methods; viruses detected and typed by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), covering group A and group C Rotavirus, Calicivirus, Human Astrovirus and enteric Adenovirus.

Key findings

20.6% of cases associated with bacteria, 9% with parasites and 40% with viruses. Group C Rotavirus 20.2%, group A Rotavirus 13%, Calicivirus 10%. Higher viral prevalence between November and April (p<0.007); bacterial and parasitic cases higher between May and October. The unusually high prevalence of group C Rotavirus was highlighted as a signal for the region's public-health surveillance.

Scientific relevance

Contributed a rare characterization of group C Rotavirus circulation in a Colombian pediatric population, and framed enteric viral diarrhea as a year-round public-health issue in equatorial highlands rather than a seasonal one.

Marcela Riaño Caro's documented role

Listed co-author (Marcela Riaño), Department of Microbiology, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Objective

To publicly deposit the sequence of the VP7 outer-shell glycoprotein of a Colombian Rotavirus C isolate ('Javeriana' strain), supporting group C Rotavirus characterization in Latin America.

Population & samples

Human faecal isolate from Bogotá, Colombia. Segment 8 of the viral genome; 332 amino acids.

Methods

Molecular characterization and sequencing of segment S8 of Rotavirus C, deposited to EMBL/GenBank (accession CAD70160.1; DBSOURCE AJ549087.1) via the Viral Gastroenteritis Section of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Key findings

Public reference sequence available for downstream molecular epidemiology and comparative work on Rotavirus C.

Scientific relevance

Anchors a Colombian Rotavirus C isolate in the international molecular record, complementing peer-reviewed findings on the high prevalence of group C Rotavirus in Colombian pediatric populations.

Marcela Riaño Caro's documented role

Author on the GenBank reference: Gutiérrez MF, Riaño M, Matiz A, Jiang B — 'Group C rotavirus as a major cause of diarrhea among children in Colombia' (unpublished manuscript accompanying the deposition). The submission was made through the CDC Viral Gastroenteritis Section; the collaboration is documented, and it does not imply CDC employment.

Objective

Foundational molecular virology work on pediatric enteric infections in Colombia, developed within the academic Bacteriology and Microbiology programs at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, with clinical laboratory exposure through Colsanitas and a documented collaboration with the CDC Viral Gastroenteritis Section on Rotavirus C sequencing.

Population & samples

Pediatric patient samples processed in academic and clinical laboratory settings in Bogotá and Facatativá.

Methods

Enteric virus detection by EIA and PCR; PAGE electropherotyping of rotavirus; standardization of laboratory protocols under academic supervision.

Key findings

Contributed to the characterization of enteric viral circulation in Colombian pediatric populations, with results reflected in the peer-reviewed publications above and in the associated NCBI GenBank record.

Scientific relevance

Provided the scientific foundation that later informed the transition into industrial diagnostics — connecting molecular research with the clinical laboratories that adopt and operate advanced testing.

Marcela Riaño Caro's documented role

Scientific investigator and molecular biology area coordinator (per résumé); listed co-author on the associated publications and on the GenBank reference. No employment claim is made for the CDC collaboration.