Clinical manifestations of human coronavirus NL63 infection in children in Taiwan.
Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) is a global respiratory tract pathogen; however, the epidemiology of this virus in subtropical area is not well known. To evaluate the epidemics and disease spectrum of HCoV-NL63 infection in children in Taiwan, we prospectively screened children admitted to the hospital with respiratory tract infection from May 2004 to April 2005. Every enrolled child had a nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) sample taken. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to detect 1b gene of HCoV-NL63. A total of 539 NPAs were collected. Seven (1.3%) were positive for HCoV-NL63. All cases were boys younger than 3 years of age and most cases occurred in autumn. Co-infection with other pathogens was observed in three cases. The most common symptoms/signs of HCoV-NL63 infection were cough, fever, and inspiratory stridor. HCoV-NL63 was the most common pathogen (14.7%) in children with croup and was the cause of three cases of croup in October. The odds ratio of croup in children infected with HCoV-NL63 was 43.4 (95% CI 8.1 approximately 233.1). In conclusion, HCoV-NL63 is an important respiratory tract pathogen as the main cause in children admitted to the hospital in Taiwan.
Wu
Ping-Sheng
PS
Department of Pediatrics, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taipei Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chang
Luan-Yin
LY
Berkhout
B
B
van der Hoek
L
L
Lu
Chun-Yi
CY
Kao
Chuan-Liang
CL
Lee
Ping-Ing
PI
Shao
Pei-Lan
PL
Lee
Chin-Yun
CY
Huang
Fu-Yuan
FY
Huang
Li-Min
LM
D002675:Child, Preschool; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003440:Croup / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012621:Seasons; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D019562:Viral Load