Human coronavirus NL63 is not detected in the respiratory tracts of children with acute Kawasaki disease.
Kawasaki disease (KD) is a self-limited, systemic vasculitis of children for which an infectious trigger is suspected. Recently, an association between KD and human coronavirus (HCoV)-New Haven (NH) was reported, on the basis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers that also amplified HCoV-NL63. We investigated the possible association between these HCoVs in the respiratory tract and KD by reverse-transcriptase (RT) PCR and viral culture in a geographically and ethnically diverse population. Only 1 (2%) of 48 patients with acute KD was positive by RT-PCR for HCoV-NL63/NH in a nasopharyngeal swab. These data do not support an association between these HCoVs and KD.
Shimizu
Chisato
C
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, 92093, USA.
Shike
Hiroko
H
Baker
Susan C
SC
Garcia
Francesca
F
van der Hoek
Lia
L
Kuijpers
Taco W
TW
Reed
Sharon L
SL
Rowley
Anne H
AH
Shulman
Stanford T
ST
Talbot
Helen K B
HK
Williams
John V
JV
Burns
Jane C
JC
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000821:virology*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014776:Virus Cultivation