Human coronavirus and severe acute respiratory infection in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are an important cause of respiratory tract infection and are responsible for causing the common cold in the general population. Thus, adequate surveillance of HCoV is essential. This study aimed to analyze the impact of HCoV infections and their relation to severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in a hospitalized population in Southern Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital, and assessed inpatients under investigation for SARI by the hospital epidemiology department, and all patients who had nasopharyngeal aspirates collected from January 2012 to December 2013 to detect respiratory viruses (RVs). Viral infection was detected by multiplex reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with primers specific to the subtypes HCoV-229E/NL63 and OC43/HKU1. The overall positivity rate was 58.8% (444/755), and HCoVs were detected in 7.6% (n = 34) of positive samples. Children below two years of age were most frequently affected (62%). Comorbidities were more likely to be associated with HCoVs than with other RVs. Immunosuppression was an independent risk factor for HCoV infection (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.6-7.6). Dyspnea was less frequently associated with HCoV infection (p < 0.001), and HCoV accounted for 6% of the SARI cases. Three patients infected with HCoV (9%) died from respiratory infection. HCoVs are important respiratory pathogens, especially in hospitalized children under 2 years of age and in immunosuppressed patients. They may account for a small proportion of SARI diagnoses, increased need for mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit admission, and death.

SARS-CoV-2: fear versus data

“…Coronaviridae represent a very important family of animal and human viruses [1,2] that are in permanent circulation. Four common human coronaviruses (HKU1, NL63, OC43 and E229) cause 10-20% of respiratory infections worldwide and are present in all continents [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] ( Table 1). Mortality is poorly assessed, but it is clear that there are chronic carriers as well as asymptomatic carriers.…”

Intensive care admission for Coronavirus OC43 respiratory tract infections

“…These outbreaks mainly occur when the temperature is low. However, Coronavirus OC43 outbreaks have been reported in tropical climates: Malaysia [7] and Brazil [8] in 2012-2013. The 2016 Southern Hemisphere's winter in Reunion Island was among the coldest of the last decade [9].…”

Isolation of Coronavirus NL63 from Blood from Children in Rural Haiti: Phylogenetic Similarities with Recent Isolates from Malaysia

“…HCoV-NL63 is widely distributed in human populations, and has been isolated from patients with symptoms ranging from those of a mild "common cold" to influenza-like illness, and, rarely, pneumonia and more severe lower respiratory infections. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Cases tend to cluster, often in winter/late winter months in temperate areas, although there is a wide variation in seasonality in different parts of the world. In comparison to the other common HCoV groups, NL63 has been reported as the most common cause of croup in infants < 6 months of age.…”

“…Human coronaviruses (HCoVs) are being recognized with increasing frequency globally as a cause of human respiratory infections. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Strains are also associated with infections in animals, with current data suggesting that bats are a primary reservoir and point of origin for HCoVs. 9,10 Initially described in the 1960s, interest in the coronaviruses increased substantially in the early 2000 with the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), 11 followed by the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses (CoV) in 2012.…”

“…12 Other than SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, which have tended to occur in more delimited epidemics, four coronaviruses are currently recognized as being endemic in human populations: HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-HKU1. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Our group works closely with the school clinic that serves four schools operated by the Christianville Foundation in the Gressier/Leogane region of Haiti, some 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince. The schools have a total of approximately 1,250 students, from prekindergarten to grade 12.…”