Human Bocavirus Infection Markers in Peripheral Blood and Stool Samples of Children with Acute Gastroenteritis

Abstract

Human bocaviruses (HBoVs) 1–4 belong to the Parvoviridae family, and they infect the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts in children. We investigated the prevalence of HBoV1–4 DNAs in the blood and stool samples, and of HBoV1–4 IgG and IgM in the plasma samples, of children presenting with acute gastroenteritis (AGE). In addition, we identified HBoV co-infections with the five most frequent gastrointestinal pathogens. A total of 83 paired blood and stool samples were collected from children aged five years or less. Infection markers of HBoV1, 2, or 3 (viral DNA in blood and/or stool and/or antibodies) were detected in 61 out of 83 (73.5%) patients. HBoV1, 2, or 3 DNA as a monoinfection was revealed in 18.1%, 2.4%, and 1.2%, respectively, and 21.7% in total. In 56.1% of the HBoV DNA-positive patients, the presence in stool of another virus—most frequently norovirus or rotavirus—was observed. In conclusion, this study, for the first time, illustrates the prevalence and genetic diversity of HBoVs in Latvian children with gastroenteritis, and shows a widespread distribution of these viruses in the community. HBoV1 and 2 are commonly found as single infectious agents in children with AGE, suggesting that the viruses can be as pathogenic by themselves as other enteric agents are.

Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Analysis of Human Bocavirus 2 in Pediatric Patients with Acute Gastroenteritis in Taiwan

“…In Taiwan, the dominant HBoV species associated with AGE is HBoV1, followed by HBoV2. Similar results have also been observed in the United States [25], India [26], Thailand [5], Latvia [9], and Bangladesh [27]. However, HBoV2 is the dominant species in some countries such as China [28], Nigeria and Tunisia [2], Australia [4], Russia [29], and Turkey [27].…”

“…HBoVs cause a variety of clinical symptoms and can be isolated from several types of specimens that include nasopharyngeal aspirates, fecal, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid [4][5][6][7][8][9]. HBoV1 is most commonly detected from respiratory specimens, while HBoV2-4 is often detected in fecal specimens [4][5][6]10].…”

New Insights into Parvovirus Research

“…The pathogenetic role and clinical implications of human parvoviruses are addressed in two studies presented in this collection, about the role of human bocaviruses and parvovirus B19. In an observational study [18], a significant association of human bocaviruses to gastroenteritis is reported, thus further expanding their clinical involvement in addition to the established association with respiratory tract infections. In a systematic review and meta-analysis study [19], the significance of the detection of parvovirus B19 genomes in endomyocardial biopsies of patients presenting with myocarditis or dilated cardiomyopathy is discussed.…”

Multiple clades of Husavirus in South America revealed by next generation sequencing

“…Caliciviridae, Dicistroviridae, Iflaviridae, Marnaviridae, Picornaviridae, Polycipiviridae, Secoviridae and Solinviviridae [3,4] are classified into eight recognized families in this order. Most viruses of this order are capable of infecting a wide range of hosts, including invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, fungi, and algae, and of causing a variety of host clinical conditions, including the common cold, acute diarrhea, heart disease, liver disease, and extreme neuropathy [6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”

“…Posa-like viruses (posavirus = porcine stool-associated RNA viruses), a group of Picornavirales consisting of divergent viruses that share a similar genome architecture, have been found predominantly in fecal samples in a wide range of hosts [4,6,8,9,[13][14][15][16][17][18]. In pigs and water barns obtained from swine farms, posaviruses were detected by NGS [15,16,19], fish stoolassociated RNA virus (fisavirus) was identified in the intestinal content of carps [17], and human stool-associated RNA virus (husavirus) was identified in primarily stable human feces [10].…”