Clinical Characteristics and Genetic Variability of Human Rhinovirus in Mexico

Adriana Landa-Cardeña,Hilda Montero,Jaime Morales-Romero,Silvia Ivonne Mora,Rebeca García-Roman,Cristina Ortiz-Leon,Ernesto Méndez,Ana Georgina Cobián-Güemes,Felipe Pitalúa-Cortés

doi:10.3390/v4020200

Abstract

Human rhinovirus (HRV) is a leading cause of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in young children and infants worldwide and has a high impact on morbidity and mortality in this population. Initially, HRV was classified into two species: HRV-A and HRV-B. Recently, a species called HRV-C and possibly another species, HRV-D, were identified. In Mexico, there is little information about the role of HRV as a cause of ARI, and the presence and importance of species such as HRV-C are not known. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics and genetic variability of HRV in Mexican children. Genetic characterization was carried out by phylogenetic analysis of the 5′-nontranslated region (5′-NTR) of the HRV genome. The results show that the newly identified HRV-C is circulating in Mexican children more frequently than HRV-B but not as frequently as HRV-A, which was the most frequent species. Most of the cases of the three species of HRV were in children under 2 years of age, and all species were associated with very mild and moderate ARI.

Highlights

Infants are one of the populations affected most by acute respiratory infection (ARI)
In all of the samples, the presence of the Human rhinovirus (HRV)-RNA genome was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) by using primer pairs that encompassed the 400-bp fragment of the 5′-nontranslated region (5′-NTR) in accordance with a previous report [12]
This study shows the frequency of HRV infection in a sample population of children who were under 6 years old and who presented with an ARI

Summary

Introduction

Infants are one of the populations affected most by acute respiratory infection (ARI). The causes and severity of ARIs have been studied in different populations, and human rhinovirus (HRV) was one of the viruses most frequently associated with ARIs and could be the cause of more than 50% of ARI cases in some pediatric populations [1,2]. HRV is associated with self-limiting illness with clinical characteristics similar to those of other viral infections such as fever, rhinorrhea, cough, and wheezing. The impact of HRV is on ARI; there is evidence that moderate to severe infection caused by HRV is a risk factor for wheezing illnesses and the development of asthma in stages posterior to infection [4] This virus is an important pathogen in public health

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