title: The incidence of human bocavirus infection among children admitted to hospital in Singapore.
abstract: Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus, belonging to the genus Bocavirus. The virus was identified recently in Sweden, and has now been detected in several different countries. Although it is associated with lower respiratory tract infections in pediatric patients, the incidence of HBoV infection in a developed country in South East Asia, has not been examined. The objective of this study was to determine the importance of HBoV as a cause of lower respiratory tract infections among children admitted to hospital in Singapore. Five hundred nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from anonymized pediatric patients admitted to the Kandang Kerbau Women's and Children's Hospital for acute respiratory infections. The specimens were tested for the presence of HBoV using polymerase chain reactions. HBoV was detected in 8.0% of the patients tested, and a majority of these HBoV patients exhibited lower respiratory tract infections. A significant level of coinfection with respiratory syncytial viruses and rhinoviruses was also observed in these HBoV patients. The data suggest that HBoV is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections among children admitted to hospital in Singapore, and is the first study examining the incidence of HBoV infection in a developed country in South East Asia.
authors.affiliation: Detection and Diagnostics Laboratory, Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, DSO National Laboratories, Singapore. tboonhua@dso.org.sg
authors.forename: Boon-Huan
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Elizabeth Ai-Sim
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Shirley Gek-Kheng
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Seah
authors.forename: Liat-Hui
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Loo
authors.forename: Nancy W S
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Tee
authors.forename: Raymond T P
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Richard Joseph
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Sugrue
mesh_terms: D052660:Bocavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D018113:Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral