Molecular epidemiology of Shigella flexneri isolated from diarrhea outbreaks in the Northern provinces of Vietnam, 1995 – 2016

Abstract

Shigella spp. is the main cause of diarrhea, especially in children. Using MLVA molecular biology technique to analyze 26 Shigella flexneri strains collected from 1995 to 2016 from diarrhea outbreaks in the northern provinces of Vietnam. The results of isolation culture (NCPL) determined that there are three serotypes (2a, 2b and 3a) in which serotype 2a predominates. Analysis results using MLVA technique in this study show that S. flexneri is the main cause of diarrhea epidemics that occurred in Son La, Dien Bien, Yen Bai and Cao Bang in 2012, 2014, respectively. 2015 and 2016. Correlation between genetic relationships and serotypes among the isolates studied; the majority of isolates belonging to the same serotype from different years were grouped together based on molecular data. These groups of isolates also had similar geographical origins. Furthermore, this study shows that MLVA can be used as a useful method for genotyping of Shigella in epidemiological investigations.