Laboratory of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
2nd Department of Pediatrics, AHEPA Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
J Med Virol. 2022 Jul;94(7):3453-3456. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27671. Epub 2022 Mar 8.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common viral pathogen causing respiratory disease in the pediatric population. An unexpected sudden upsurge of RSV infections among children was observed in September 2021 in Greece. Forty-one rhinopharyngeal samples from children under the age of 2 years with confirmed RSV bronchiolitis were tested to identify the genotype(s) of the RSV strain(s). The children were hospitalized during September-November 2021 in three tertiary hospitals in northern Greece. A one-step RT-PCR which amplifies a fragment of the second hypervariable region of the G protein gene was applied. PCR products were sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. Most (80.5%) RSV cases were typed as RSV-A, with RSV-B accounting for 19.5% of cases. RSV-A and RSV-B sequences clustered within the ON1 and BA genotypes, respectively. As the same genotypes were detected in cases observed during 2016-2018 in northern Greece, it was suggested that the early upsurge of infections was not related to the emergence of novel strain(s), but it was the result of the absence of immunity among children and their mothers due to the restriction measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous RSV season. Awareness is needed to diagnose even the out-of-season RSV infections, while molecular epidemiology plays a key role in monitoring the efficacy of currently available therapeutics and for those under development.
呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）是导致儿科呼吸道疾病的最常见病毒病原体。2021 年 9 月，希腊儿童中 RSV 感染出人意料地突然激增。对 41 名年龄在 2 岁以下、确诊为 RSV 细支气管炎的儿童的鼻咽拭子样本进行了检测，以确定 RSV 株的基因型。这些儿童于 2021 年 9 月至 11 月在希腊北部的三家三级医院住院。应用了一种一步 RT-PCR，可扩增 G 蛋白基因第二高变区的片段。对 PCR 产物进行测序，并进行系统发育分析。大多数（80.5%）RSV 病例为 RSV-A 型，RSV-B 型占 19.5%。RSV-A 和 RSV-B 序列分别聚类于 ON1 和 BA 基因型内。由于在希腊北部观察到的 2016-2018 年期间的病例中检测到相同的基因型，因此早期感染的激增与新型株的出现无关，而是由于 COVID-19 大流行期间前一个 RSV 季节采取的限制措施，儿童及其母亲缺乏免疫力所致。需要提高认识，即使在 RSV 流行季节之外也能诊断出 RSV 感染，而分子流行病学在监测现有治疗方法的疗效以及正在开发的治疗方法方面发挥着关键作用。
