Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program: Annual Report, 2025

Abstract

This report from the Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program (ARSP) describes the circulating rotavirus genotypes identified in children and adults during the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. In 2025, the ARSP saw a continuation of a high burden of rotavirus disease in the Australian population. During this period, 2,419 faecal specimens were referred to the National Rotavirus Reference Centre (NRRC) for rotavirus G- and P-genotype analysis; of these samples, 2,288 were confirmed as rotavirus positive. This represents the highest number of referred samples and the highest number of positive samples recorded in a single surveillance year in the NRRC's more than 20-year history. Of the 2,288 samples confirmed rotavirus positive, 2,071 (90.5%) were identified as wildtype rotavirus; 215 (9.4%) were identified as the Rotarix vaccine-like strain; and two G1P[8] samples could not be confirmed as wildtype or vaccine-like due to inadequate sequence quality. The equine-like G3P[8] variant was the dominant genotype nationally (87.7%; n = 1,816/2,071). Other genotypes were identified at low frequencies, including wildtype G1P[8] (0.3%; n = 6/2,071), G2P[4] (2.0%; n = 42/2,071), G3P[8] (2.4%; n = 50/2,071), G8P[8] (0.5%; n = 10/2,071), G9P[4] (0.3%; n = 6/2,071), G9P[8] (2.2%; n = 46/2,071) and G12P[8] (0.3%; n = 6/2,071). Genotype distribution was consistent nationally, with equine-like G3P[8] the dominant genotype in all jurisdictions. Consistent with observations in recent years, a small number of samples with unusual genotypes were identified (3.7%; n = 77/2,071). Of these unusual genotypes, the most frequently detected was equine-like G3P[6] which accounted for 26.0% of unusual samples (n = 20/74) and 1.0% of all positive wildtype samples (n = 20/2,071).

The high number of rotavirus positive samples received by the program reflected the notifications for rotavirus disease reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance Service (NNDSS). Across Australia, 9,520 notifications were recorded, which is the second highest annual total reported since rotavirus became nationally notifiable in 2018. Outbreaks were reported in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.

The ability to monitor the genotypes of rotavirus strains causing disease across ages and jurisdictions provides important data to aid in assessing the performance of the national rotavirus vaccination program and to inform public health interventions during outbreaks. The ARSP also provides important data to monitor annual variations in genotypes circulating in the population. Understanding the diversity of genotypes in circulation and the emergence of variants provides important context for any changes observed in disease epidemiology in the community. The ARSP provides diagnostic laboratories with valuable feedback on laboratory data quality by reporting incidences of wildtype, vaccine-like, and/or false positive rotavirus results.