Abstract
BackgroundHuman metapneumovirus (hMPV) is one of the important pathogens in infant respiratory tract infection. However, the molecular epidemiology of hMPV among children < 14 years of age hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) is unclear. We investigated the hMPV infection status and genotypes of children hospitalized with SARI from January 2016 to December 2020 in Huzhou, China.MethodsA nasopharyngeal flocked swab, nasal wash, or nasopharyngeal swab/or opharyngeal swab combination sample was collected from children with SARI in Huzhou from January 2016 to December 2020. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect hMPV RNA. The hMPV F gene was amplified and sequenced, followed by analysis using MEGA software (ver. 7.0). Epidemiological data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and SPSS (ver. 22.0) software.ResultsA total of 1133 children with SARI were recruited from 2016 to 2020. Among them, 56 (4.94%) were positive for hMPV-RNA. Children < 5 years of age accounted for 85.71% of the positive cases. The hMPV incidence was high in spring and winter, especially in December and January to March. Phylogenetic analysis of the F-gene sequences of 28 hMPV strains showed that the A1, B1, and B2 genotypes were prevalent in Huzhou, and the dominant hMPV genotype varied according to surveillance year.ConclusionsHMPV is an important respiratory pathogen in children in Huzhou, with a high incidence in winter and spring in children < 5 years of age. In this study, genotypes A1, B1, and B2 were the most prevalent.
Highlights
Human metapneumovirus is one of the important pathogens in infant respiratory tract infection
Human metapneumovirus, first identified in 2001, is a major viral respiratory pathogen worldwide [1,2,3]. hMPV is an important pathogen in infant respiratory tract infection—about half of all children are infected by hMPV before 2 years of age, and most are infected before 5 years of age [1]
A total of 1133 nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) from January 2016 to December 2020; 56 samples were positive for hMPV, for a detection rate of 4.94% (56/1,133)
Summary
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is one of the important pathogens in infant respiratory tract infection. The molecular epidemiology of hMPV among children < 14 years of age hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) is unclear. We investigated the hMPV infection status and genotypes of children hospitalized with SARI from January 2016 to December 2020 in Huzhou, China. Conclusions HMPV is an important respiratory pathogen in children in Huzhou, with a high incidence in winter and spring in children < 5 years of age. Global epidemiological studies have shown that most children have been infected with hMPV by the age of 5 years [1]. Evolutionary analysis of multiple genes showed that hMPV comprises genotypes A and B, which both have two subtypes (A1 and A2; and B1 and B2, respectively) [8]. Analysis of the genomic structure of hMPV genotypes would provide insight into its genetic background and evolutionary status, and facilitate epidemiological investigation, prevention, and treatment of hMPV
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