Central Virology Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
PLoS One. 2012;7(4):e34750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034750. Epub 2012 Apr 4.
Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered respiratory pathogen, infecting mainly young children. The infected patients suffer from influenza like symptoms (ILS). In Israel the virus is mainly circulating in February to March. Here we report on an increased rate of hMPV infection in the winter season of 2009-10. The 2009-10 infection had several unique characteristics when compared to previous seasons; it started around January and a large number of infants were infected by the virus. Genetic analysis based on the viral L and F genes of hMPV showed that only subtypes A2 and B2 circulated in Israel. Additionally, we have identified a novel variant of hMPV within subgroup A2b, which subdivide it into A2b1 and A2b2. Finally, we showed that the hMPV infection was detected in the country soon after the infection with the pandemic influenza virus had declined, that infection with the pandemic influenza virus was dominant and that it interfered with the infection of other respiratory viruses. Thus, we suggest that the unusual increase in hMPV infection observed in 2009-10 was due to the appearance of the pandemic influenza virus in the winter season prior to 2009-10.
人偏肺病毒（hMPV）是一种新近发现的呼吸道病原体，主要感染儿童。受感染的患者出现流感样症状（ILS）。在以色列，该病毒主要在 2 月至 3 月间传播。在此，我们报告了 2009-10 年冬季 hMPV 感染率的增加。与前几个季节相比，2009-10 年的感染有几个独特的特征；它于 1 月左右开始，大量婴儿感染了该病毒。基于 hMPV 的病毒 L 和 F 基因的遗传分析表明，仅亚组 A2 和 B2 在以色列传播。此外，我们在亚组 A2b 内鉴定出一种 hMPV 的新型变体，将其分为 A2b1 和 A2b2。最后，我们表明，大流行性流感病毒感染下降后不久，hMPV 感染在该国被检测到，大流行性流感病毒感染占主导地位，并干扰了其他呼吸道病毒的感染。因此，我们认为，2009-10 年 hMPV 感染的异常增加是由于 2009-10 年之前冬季大流行性流感病毒的出现。
