NHC Key Laboratory of Medical Virology and Viral Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China.
Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Virol J. 2021 Feb 18;18(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12985-021-01508-0.
Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) causes high amounts of morbidity and mortality worldwide every year. Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a major pathogen of ARTIs in children. In this study, we aimed to investigate the epidemiology and genotypic diversity of HMPV in children hospitalized with ARTIs in Beijing, China.
Hospitalized children aged < 14 years with ARTIs were enrolled from April 2017 to March 2018; nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction tests for HMPV. HMPV-positive samples were genotyped based on a partial N gene. Whole genome sequences were determined for samples with high viral loads.
4.08% (52/1276) enrolled paediatric patients were identified as having HMPV infection. The epidemic season is winter and early spring, children aged ≤ 4 years were more susceptible to HMPV infection (47/52, 90.38%). The co-infection rate were 36.54% (19/52), the most common co-infected virus were influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. The main diagnoses of HMPV infection were pneumonia (29/52, 55.77%) and bronchitis (23/52, 44.23%), while the main clinical manifestations were cough, fever, rhinorrhoea, and sneeze. Among 48 HMPV-positive specimens, A2b (19/48, 39.58%) and B1 (26/48, 54.17%) were the main epidemic subtypes. Patients with HMPV genotype A infection had a higher viral load compared to genotype B patients (6.07 vs. 5.37 log RNA copies/ml). Five complete sequences of HMPV were obtained. This is the first report of a whole genome sequence of HMPV-B1 isolated in China.
HMPV is an important respiratory pathogen in paediatric patients. Cases of HMPV infection could burden hospitals in the epidemic season. HMPV viral loads and genotypes have no correlation with co-infection or clinical characteristics.
急性呼吸道感染（ARTIs）每年在全球范围内导致大量发病率和死亡率。人偏肺病毒（HMPV）是儿童 ARTIs 的主要病原体。在这项研究中，我们旨在调查中国北京因 ARTIs 住院的儿童中 HMPV 的流行病学和基因型多样性。
从 2017 年 4 月至 2018 年 3 月，招募年龄<14 岁的因 ARTIs 住院的儿童；采集鼻咽抽吸物并进行实时聚合酶链反应检测 HMPV。根据部分 N 基因对 HMPV 阳性样本进行基因分型。对于病毒载量高的样本，确定全基因组序列。
4.08%（52/1276）纳入的儿科患者被确定为 HMPV 感染。流行季节为冬春两季，年龄≤4 岁的儿童更容易感染 HMPV（47/52，90.38%）。共感染率为 36.54%（19/52），最常见的共感染病毒为流感病毒和呼吸道合胞病毒。HMPV 感染的主要诊断为肺炎（29/52，55.77%）和支气管炎（23/52，44.23%），而主要的临床症状为咳嗽、发热、流涕和打喷嚏。在 48 份 HMPV 阳性标本中，A2b（19/48，39.58%）和 B1（26/48，54.17%）是主要的流行亚型。与基因型 B 患者相比，感染 HMPV 基因型 A 的患者病毒载量更高（6.07 与 5.37 log RNA 拷贝/ml）。获得了 5 株完整的 HMPV 序列。这是中国首次报道分离的 HMPV-B1 全基因组序列。
HMPV 是儿童重要的呼吸道病原体。在流行季节，HMPV 感染病例可能会给医院带来负担。HMPV 病毒载量和基因型与共感染或临床特征无相关性。
