The evolutionary phylodynamics of human parechovirus A type 3 reveal multiple recombination events in South Korea

Abstract

Human parechovirus A (HPeV‐A) is a causative agent of respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses, acute flaccid paralysis encephalitis, meningitis, and neonatal sepsis. To clarify the characteristics of HPeV‐A infection in children, 391 fecal specimens were collected from January 2014 to October 2015 from patients with acute gastroenteritis in Seoul, South Korea. Of these, 221/391 (56.5%) HPeV‐A positive samples were found in children less than 2 years old. Three HPeV‐A genotypes HPeV‐A1 (117/221; 52.94%), HPeV‐A3 (100/221; 45.25%), and HPeV‐A6 (4/221; 1.81%) were detected, among which HPeV‐A3 was predominant with the highest recorded value of 58.6% in 2015. Moreover, recombination events in the Korean HPeV‐A3 strains were detected. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the capsid‐encoding regions and noncapsid gene 2A of the four Korean HPeV‐A3 strains are closely related to the HPeV‐A3 strains isolated in Canada in 2007 (Can82853‐01), Japan in 2008 (A308/99), and Taiwan in 2011 (TW‐03067‐2011) while noncapsid genes P2 (2B–2C) and P3 (3A–3D) are closely related to those of HPeV‐A1 strains BNI‐788St (Germany in 2008) and TW‐71594‐2010 (Taiwan in 2010). This first report on the whole‐genome analysis of HPeV‐A3 in Korea provides insight into the evolving status and pathogenesis of HPeVs in children.