Abstract
Lower respiratory illness is one of the leading causes of death among children in low- and high-income countries. Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a key contributor to respiratory illnesses commonly reported among children and causes serious clinical complications ranging from mild respiratory infections to severe lower respiratory tract anomalies mainly in the form of bronchiolitis and pneumonia. However, due to the lack of a national surveillance system, the clinical significance of hMPV remains obscure in the Pakistani population. This study was conducted to screen throat swabs samples collected from 127 children reported with respiratory symptoms at a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad. Out of 127, 21 (16.5%) samples were positive for hMPV with its genotype distribution as A2a (10%), A2b (20%), B1 (10%), and B2 (60%). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the hMPV viruses were closely related to those reported from neighboring countries including India and China. This work will contribute to a better understanding of this virus, its diagnosis, and the handling of patients in clinical setups. Further studies at a large-scale are warranted for a better understanding of the disease burden and epidemiology of hMPV in Pakistan.
Highlights
Lower respiratory illness is one of the leading causes of death among children in low- and highincome countries
Based on morphological studies of the virion and genome organization, Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been classified as Metapneumovirus genus of family Pneumoviridae[1,3,4], measuring 150–600 nm in size, pleomorphic with envelope spikes as projections ranging 13–17 nm[1,2]
The clinical symptoms frequently associated with hMPV positive cases were cough, sputum, wheezing, and vomiting followed by fever, shortness of breath, and tachypnea (Table 1)
Summary
Lower respiratory illness is one of the leading causes of death among children in low- and highincome countries. Based on morphological studies of the virion and genome organization, hMPV has been classified as Metapneumovirus genus of family Pneumoviridae[1,3,4], measuring 150–600 nm in size, pleomorphic with envelope spikes as projections ranging 13–17 nm[1,2]. It has a negative-sense single-stranded RNA genome, reported as one of the leading causes of lower respiratory tract illnesses among children worldwide, and is associated with infections among immunocompromised hosts and other underlying morbidities[5]. By using the F protein gene we demonstrated the clinical and molecular diversity, epidemiological features, and prevalence of hMPV circulating in Islamabad, Pakistan during 2015
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