Prevalence and genotypes of human parechovirus in stool samples from hospitalized children in Shanghai, China, 2008 and 2009

Abstract

Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) are widespread pathogens belonging to the Picornavirus family. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence and genetic diversity of HPeV in Shanghai, China, during a HPeV screening program in 2008 and 2009. Of 300 stool samples from children under the age of 5 years with acute diarrhea seen at Children's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, 165 (55%) were HPeV-positive. The median age of infected children was 3 months. The prevalence of HPeV was high (57%) in infants up to 2 years old but dropped to 30.4% in children between 2 and 5 years old. The prevalence did not differ by sex. Infections were present throughout the year but peaked in July and August. The most predominant genotype was HPeV1. Of the 139 strains, 4 were found in 9 samples: HPeV4 (n = 4), HPeV5 (n = 1), HPeV6 (n = 1), and HPeV8 (n= 3). This study provided useful data on the epidemiology of HPeV infection by documenting the distribution of genotypes, age of infection, and seasonal patterns in Shanghai, China.

Human Parechovirus Infections Associated with Seizures and Rash in Infants and Toddlers

“…10 Interestingly, all 4 patients in the MenSCh cohort carrying the uncommon HPeV-6 type suffered from seizures, an association not previously reported in the literature. 22,29,[33][34][35] HPeV-1 and HPeV-3 were also detected in our setting, both of which have been described previously. 9,10,31,36,37 HPeV-1 has been reported as the most common HPeV subtype in a study of CSF samples from children with acute CNS infection in Shanghai, whereas others identified HPEV-1 in stool but not in the CSF of patients with suspected meningitis.…”

“…This is consistent with previous studies in different geographic regi ons. 9,13,24,[26][27][28][29][30] Regarding different HPeV types, we observed HPeV-6 in 2011 and HPeV-3 in 2012. Others have suggested a biannual cycle for type HPeV-3.…”

Two Cases of Sepsis-Like Illness in Infants Caused by Human Parechovirus Traced Back to Elder Siblings with Mild Gastroenteritis and Respiratory Symptoms

“…However, except for a few contrary reports (22,25), HPeV-3 is considered a less common type in circulation (1,20,23,24,26,27). We also detected HPeV-3 in only 9% of the HPeV-positive individuals in our small study.…”

Human parechoviruses are frequently detected in stool of healthy Finnish children

“…Furthermore, the epidemiology of the other HPeVs is not known; types 7, 8, 10, 11 and 14 have only been detected sporadically. 4,[6][7][8][9]35,36 HPeV infections showed a clear seasonality with a distinct peak in October and November. This seasonality was observed every year during this study.…”