Human metapneumovirus in children with bronchiolitis or pneumonia in New Zealand.
OBJECTIVE
To confirm the presence of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) in New Zealand and establish its prevalence in selected paediatric patient groups.


METHODS
Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected in two separate paediatric studies enrolling children clinically diagnosed with either bronchiolitis or pneumonia and tested for hMPV by polymerase chain reaction.


RESULTS
Nucleic acid detection tests demonstrated 5.3% of paediatric bronchiolitis cases were positive for hMPV RNA and 2.7% of children admitted with pneumonia tested positive for hMPV RNA.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of hMPV in New Zealand has been confirmed in two selected paediatric patient groups, namely children diagnosed with bronchiolitis and pneumonia. These results indicate that hMPV is associated with a minority of cases of bronchiolitis or pneumonia in this patient group.
Werno
A M
AM
Microbiology Unit, Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand. anja.werno@cdhb.govt.nz
Anderson
T P
TP
Jennings
L C
LC
Jackson
P M
PM
Murdoch
D R
DR
D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D001990:Bronchiolitis, Viral / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D029121:Metapneumovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D018184:Paramyxoviridae Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000209:etiology / Q000821:virology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
D012367:RNA, Viral