Broor S, Bharaj P, Chahar H S
Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India.
J Biosci. 2008 Nov;33(4):483-93. doi: 10.1007/s12038-008-0067-y.
Human metapneumovirus is a recently recognized pathogen of acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) in children as well as elderly and immunocompromised adults.The virus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae, sub family Pneumovirinae and genus Metapneumovirus. Through genetic analysis it has been characterized into two groups A and B which are further divided into four sub-lineages. The virus is difficult to grow in tissue culture and hence reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for N and L gene is the method of choice for diagnosis. The virus has been seen in all countries with seasonal distribution in winter months for temperate and spring/summer for tropical countries. F gene is the most conserved among different lineages and efforts are underway to design recombination vaccine using F gene.
人偏肺病毒是一种最近才被认识的引起儿童以及老年人和免疫功能低下成年人急性呼吸道感染（ARI）的病原体。该病毒属于副粘病毒科、肺病毒亚科和偏肺病毒属。通过基因分析，它已被分为A和B两组，这两组又进一步分为四个亚谱系。该病毒在组织培养中难以生长，因此针对N和L基因的逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）是诊断的首选方法。在所有国家都发现了这种病毒，在温带国家冬季呈季节性分布，在热带国家则在春/夏季出现。F基因在不同谱系中最为保守，目前正在努力设计使用F基因的重组疫苗。
