Serotypes of human rhinoviruses isolated from hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infection in Shanghai during the autumn and winter of 2016-2017

Abstract

Objective To investigate the etiological characteristics of common viral respiratory tract infections and to analyze the distribution of human rhinovirus (HRV) serotypes in children with severe acute respiratory tract infection (SARI) in Shanghai. Methods Totally 199 nasopharyngeal aspirate specimens were collected from children with SARI in Shanghai from October 2016 to March 2017. A nuclear acid test was performed to detect 15 common respiratory viruses in these specimens. HRV strains were screened out using the primer pairs derived from the 5′UTR of HRV and the serotypes of them were identified based on the VP4-VP2 gene sequencing. Results Among the 199 specimens, HRV-positive specimens accounted for 26.1%, followed by those positive for influenza A (6.5%), adenovirus (6.5%), respiratory syncytial virus (6.5%) and Boca virus (5%). Fifty-two HRV-positive specimens were typed by the VP4-VP2 gene sequencing with 30 belonging to species A (18 serotypes, predominant serotypes: A21, A12, A38, A78, A88 and A96), seven belonging to species B (five serotypes, predominant serotype: B72) and 15 belonging to species C (nine serotypes, predominant serotypes: C27 and C40). There were two cases of HRV co-infection. Two HRV-positive specimens could not be typed. HRV mixed serotype infections and co-infections of HRV with other viruses were existed. No significant difference in infection rates of different age groups and clinical characteristics was found between HRV-A and HRV-C infection groups. Conclusion HRV-A and HRV-C were the predominant pathogens causing SARI in children in Shanghai. Thirty-two HRV serotypes were detected and the predominant types were A21, A12, A38, A78, A88, A96, B72, C27 and C40. Key words: Severe acute respiratory infection; Children; Human rhinovirus; Serotype