Abstract
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered respiratory pathogen, infecting mainly young children. The infected patients suffer from influenza like symptoms (ILS). In Israel the virus is mainly circulating in February to March. Here we report on an increased rate of hMPV infection in the winter season of 2009–10. The 2009–10 infection had several unique characteristics when compared to previous seasons; it started around January and a large number of infants were infected by the virus. Genetic analysis based on the viral L and F genes of hMPV showed that only subtypes A2 and B2 circulated in Israel. Additionally, we have identified a novel variant of hMPV within subgroup A2b, which subdivide it into A2b1 and A2b2. Finally, we showed that the hMPV infection was detected in the country soon after the infection with the pandemic influenza virus had declined, that infection with the pandemic influenza virus was dominant and that it interfered with the infection of other respiratory viruses. Thus, we suggest that the unusual increase in hMPV infection observed in 2009–10 was due to the appearance of the pandemic influenza virus in the winter season prior to 2009–10.
Highlights
Human metapneumovirus is a member of the paramyxoviridae family which includes respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), measles virus, and mumps virus [1,2]
The infection symptoms caused by Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) are similar to those caused by RSV and patients infected with hMPV demonstrates symptoms ranging from upper respiratory tract infection to bronchiolitis and pneumonia that is often accompanied by high fever, myalgia, and vomiting [2,3,4,5,6,7]
Increased infection of hMPV during 2009–10 Our study was initiated because we observed a dramatic increase in the proportion of hMPV-infected patients that were hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center during the 2009–10 winter season
Summary
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a member of the paramyxoviridae family which includes respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), measles virus, and mumps virus [1,2]. It has been suggested that hMPV is responsible for 5–10% of acute respiratory tract infections in neonates and children [8,9,10]. HMPV isolates are classified by phylogenetic analysis into two major genetic lineages termed subtypes A and B and are further subdivided into four subgroups (A1, A2, B1, and B2) [8,10,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]. A recent report demonstrated the existence of novel sub-lineages within the hMPV subgroup A2, named A2a and A2b [18,23,25]. Another recent study demonstrated the existence of various subtypes in the B2 group [26]
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