Molecular typing and epidemiologic profiles of human metapneumovirus infection among children with severe acute respiratory infection in Huzhou, China

Abstract

Background Human 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. Methods A 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. Results A 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. 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. In this study, genotypes A1, B1, and B2 were the most prevalent.

Epidemiological characteristics of respiratory viruses in hospitalized children during the COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern China

“…The detection rate of ADV in 2019 was extremely high all year round, peaking in summer. Infection caused by ADV can occur throughout the year; it mainly occurs in winter and spring in northern China, and is common in spring and summer in southern China ( Ji et al., 2021 ). In 2019, the detection rate of ADV was high all year round in Chongqing.…”

Spread of Pathogens Causing Respiratory Viral Diseases Before and During CoVID-19 Pandemic in Kazakhstan

“…The highest coverage of the population with hRSv and hRv during the specified period was also recorded in other countries [ 46 – 48 ]. At the same time, several researchers have noticed the leading role of hMpv, hPiv as well as a significant contribution of hAdv in the general non-influenza viral pathology of the respiratory organs [ 35 – 37 , 49 , 50 ]. It is therefore possible to point out the territorial heterogeneity in the distribution of viral agents.…”

Global Extension and Predominance of Human Metapneumovirus A2 Genotype with Partial G Gene Duplication

“…Genotype Reference Sequence Selection: We performed an extensive literature review of articles describing HMPV molecular epidemiology and registered 327 HMPV sequences used as genotype references in 22 different articles; 19 of these articles focused on genotype assignment using the HMPV G gene. Subsequently, we selected sequences that have been used as genotype reference by several authors or sequences of newly identified genotypes for viruses with partial G gene duplications [ 16 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. As our aim focused on genotype assignment using the HMPV G gene ectodomain, sequences with at least the complete ectodomain were selected as references.…”