Systematic literature review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of rotavirus genotypes in Asia from 2015 to 2021

Understanding rotavirus prevalence by genotype can inform disease prevention and immunization decision-making. This systematic literature review summarized the genotype-specific prevalence of rotavirus in Asia from 2015 to 2021. We identified surveillance studies using PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, and used proportional meta-analysis (with the generic inverse variance method with arcsine transformation and generalized linear mixed models) to summarize genotype prevalence by region. A total of 7,601 studies were screened, and 73 studies from 16 countries were included. Data from 19,935 rotavirus samples reveal that the most common rotavirus genotypes circulating in Asia from 2015 to 2021 were G3P[8] (24%; 95% CI: 19%, 30%), G9P[8] (11%; 95% CI: 7%, 16%), G1P[8] (11%; 95% CI: 8%, 14%) and G2P[4] (8%; 95% CI: 6%, 10%). The results are comparable to estimates from the pre-vaccine licensure period. Surveillance based on sequencing data could help detect more subtle changes and further characterize the rotavirus burden in Asia. This study synthesizes data on rotavirus prevalence by genotype in Asia for the period 2015–2021. It finds G3P[8], G9P[8], G1P[8] and G2P[4] to be the most prevalent genotypes across the included countries.