Clinical characteristics and molecular epidemiology of human metapneumovirus in children with acute lower respiratory tract infections in China, 2017 to 2019: A multicentre prospective observational study

Hongwei Zhao; Qianyu Feng; Ziheng Feng; Yun Zhu; Junhong Ai; Baoping Xu; Li Deng; Yun Sun; Changchong Li; Rong Jin; Yunxiao Shang; Xiangpeng Chen; Lili Xu; Zhengde Xie

doi:10.1016/j.virs.2022.08.007

December 2022

Citation: Hongwei Zhao, Qianyu Feng, Ziheng Feng, Yun Zhu, Junhong Ai, Baoping Xu, Li Deng, Yun Sun, Changchong Li, Rong Jin, Yunxiao Shang, Xiangpeng Chen, Lili Xu, Zhengde Xie. Clinical characteristics and molecular epidemiology of human metapneumovirus in children with acute lower respiratory tract infections in China, 2017 to 2019: A multicentre prospective observational study .VIROLOGICA SINICA, 2022, 37(6) : 874-882. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.virs.2022.08.007

Clinical characteristics and molecular epidemiology of human metapneumovirus in children with acute lower respiratory tract infections in China, 2017 to 2019: A multicentre prospective observational study

Hongwei Zhao ^a,b ,
Qianyu Feng ^a,b ,
Ziheng Feng ^a,b ,
Yun Zhu ^a,b ,
Junhong Ai ^a,b ,
Baoping Xu ^c ,
Li Deng ^d ,
Yun Sun ^e ,
Changchong Li ^f ,
Rong Jin ^g ,
Yunxiao Shang ^h ,
Xiangpeng Chen ^a,b ,
Lili Xu ^{a,b
,,} ,
Zhengde Xie ^a,b

a Beijing Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respiratory Infection Diseases, Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children, Ministry of Education, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, National Key Discipline of Pediatrics (Capital Medical University), Beijing Pediatric Research Institute, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China;
b Research Unit of Critical Infection in Children, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 2019RU016, China;
c Department of Respiratory Diseases I, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, National Center for Children's Health, Beijing, 100045, China;
d Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, 510623, China;
e Yinchuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Yinchuan, 750000, China;
f The 2nd Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China;
g Guiyang Women and Children Healthcare Hospital, Guiyang, 550003, China;
h Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110004, China

Corresponding author: Lili Xu, justinexull26@163.com
Received Date: 06 April 2022
Accepted Date: 21 June 2022
Available online: 22 August 2022

Abstract

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infection is one of the leading causes of hospitalization in young children with acute respiratory illness. In this study, we prospectively collected respiratory tract samples from children who were hospitalized with acute lower respiratory tract infection in six hospitals in China from 2017 to 2019. HMPV was detected in 145 out of 2733 samples (5.3%) from the hospitalized children. The majority of HMPV-positive children were under the age of two (67.6%), with a median age of one year. HMPV can independently cause acute lower respiratory tract infection in young children, while all patients showed mild clinical symptoms. Of all the co-infected patients, HMPV was most commonly detected with enterovirus (EV) or rhinovirus (RhV) (38.0%, followed by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (32.0%). The highest detection rate occurred from March to May in both northern and southern China. Out of 145 HMPV positive samples, 48 were successfully typed, of which 36 strains were subgrouped into subtypes A2c (75%), eight strains were included in subtype B1 (16.7%), and four strains were included in subtype B2 (8.3%). Moreover, 16 A2c strains contained 111-nucleotide duplications in the G gene. Twenty-seven complete HMPV genomes were successfully obtained, and 25 (92.6%) strains belonged to subtype A2c, whereas one strain was included in subgroup B1 and another was included in subgroup B2. A total of 277 mutations were observed in the complete genomes of 25 A2c strains. All results presented here improve our understanding of clinical characteristics and molecular epidemiology of HMPV infection in children.
- Human metapneumovirus (HMPV)
- , Acute lower respiratory tract infection
- , Clinical characteristics
- , Molecular epidemiology
- , Multicentre prospective study

Electronic Supplementary Material

10.1016j.virs.2022.08.007-ESM.pdf
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