Human bocavirus and human metapneumovirus in hospitalized children with lower respiratory tract illness in Changsha, China

Abstract

BackgroundLower respiratory tract illness is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide, however, information about the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of LRTIs caused by HMPV and HBoV in China is limited.ObjectivesHuman bocavirus (HBoV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are two important viruses for children with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). We aimed to assay the correlation between viral load and clinical characteristics of HBoV and HMPV with LRTI in Changsha, China.MethodsNasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from children with LRTI were collected. Real‐time PCR was used to screen HBoV and HMPV. Analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0 software.ResultsPneumonia was the most frequent diagnosis. There was no significant difference between HBoV‐ and HMPV‐positive patients in age (P = .506) or hospitalization duration (P = .280); 24.1% and 18.2% were positive for HBoV and HMPV. HBoV infections peaked in summer (32.2%), and HMPV infections peaked in winter (28.9%). The HBoV‐positive patients had a shorter hospitalization duration than the HBoV‐negative patients (P = .021), and the HMPV‐positive patients had a higher prevalence of fever than the HMPV‐negative patients (P = .002). The HBoV viral load was significantly higher among patients aged <1 year (P = .006). The mean HBoV and HMPV viral loads were not significantly different between patients with single infections and coinfections. Patients infected with HBoV only were older than those coinfected with HBoV and other respiratory viruses (P = .005). No significant difference was found in the clinical characteristics of patients infected with HMPV only and those coinfected with HMPV and other respiratory viruses.ConclusionPneumonia was the most frequent diagnosis caused by HBoV and HMPV. Neither HBoV nor HMPV viral load was correlated with disease severity.

Human bocavirus infection in Belgian children with respiratory tract disease

“…The HBoV viral load was higher among patients younger than 18 months. This is in concordance with findings of Zhou et al [7].…”

“…Competition or interference between viruses in the respiratory tract could explain the low viral loads observed in the majority of coinfections. In our study, HBoV viral loads were comparable between the monoinfected and coinfected samples, as was also found in previous studies [7,23,30]. However, the small number of samples in the monoinfected group makes it difficult to prove any statistical difference between the two.…”

“…In this group, a relationship was observed between HBoV and LRTD. Some previous studies have found high viral loads to be associated with more-severe symptoms [9], while others have failed to find a clear relationship [5,7,23]. In our opinion, it is not possible to establish a clear relationship between viral load and severity of LRTD.…”

“…HBoV has been reported worldwide in all age groups; however, it has mainly been detected in children who presented at the hospital with RTD. A high HBoV viral load could be an etiologic agent for severe LRTI, and these patients may develop bronchitis and pneumonia with fever, cough and peribronchial infiltrates detected on a chest X-ray [7,8]. Low viral loads in coinfection indicate more asymptomatic shedding [9].…”

Viral pathogens associated with acute lower respiratory tract infections in children younger than 5 years of age in Bulgaria

“…During the study period, viral infections were detected in 78.1% of the cases of ALRI, with the lowest positive rate in the third season (p < 0.05). In the PCRbased surveys conducted in various countries, the percentages of proven viral infections in cases of ALRI varied greatly, i.e., 83.2% in China [17], 75.2% in Spain [18], 50.3% in Brazil [19], and 36.7% in Turkey [20], due to differences in climatic and geographic conditions, the study population, and the range of respiratory agents investigated. In our population, the proportion of viral infections in the cases of bronchiolitis and pneumonia was 82.6% and 70.1%, respectively.…”