3.6 Gender and ages distribution of RVA strains
There were 12 and seven RVA strains detected in male and female children, respectively. The predominant RVA strains detected in males were the same as in females. Regarding the age distribution of RVA strains, the main prevalent genotypes (G9P[8], G8P[8] and G3P[8]) were detected in almost all age groups. However, all the RVA genotypes identified in this study were circulating in children aged 0-72 months, while only four RVA strains were detected in children older than 73 months. To our surprise, G8P[8] was the most common genotype in children aged >73 months (59.0%, 23/39), while the frequency of G8P[8] in children aged 0-72 months was 33.3% (69/207) (Table 2). Furthermore, the proportion of the G8P[8] strain in these two age groups was statistically significant (p =0.004).