Publications by authors named "Orpha Kumwenda"
G3 rotaviruses rank among the most common rotavirus strains worldwide in humans and animals. However, despite a robust long-term rotavirus surveillance system from 1997 at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, these strains were only detected from 1997 to 1999 and then disappeared and re-emerged in 2017, 5 years after the introduction of the Rotarix rotavirus vaccine. Here, we analysed representative twenty-seven whole genome sequences (G3P[4], = 20; G3P[6], = 1; and G3P[8], = 6) randomly selected each month between November 2017 and August 2019 to understand how G3 strains re-emerged in Malawi.
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- Research shows that while CD4 T cells provide strong immune protection against rotavirus in animal studies, their effectiveness in humans is still uncertain.
- In a study of children in Malawi, those with rotavirus infections had more memory T helper cells during their illness, but showed little evidence of specific CD4 T cells that produce key antiviral cytokines (IFN-γ and TNF-α) during acute and recovery phases.
- Overall, the study found that vaccinated Malawian children exhibited limited production of these important antiviral T cells after confirmed rotavirus infection.