title: Human bocavirus in children suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection in Beijing Children's Hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus recently found to possibly cause respiratory tract disease in children and adults. This study investigated HBoV infection and its clinical characteristics in children younger than five years of age suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection in Beijing Children's Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children suffering from acute lower respiratory tract infection during the winters of 2004 to 2006 (from November through the following February). HBoV was detected by polymerase chain reaction amplification and virus isolation and the amplification products were sequenced for identification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HBoV infection was detected in 16 of 333 study subjects. Coinfections with respiratory syncytial virus were detected in 3 of 16 HBoV positive patients with acute lower respiratory tract infection. The median age for HBoV positive children was 8 months (mean age, 17 months; range, 3 to 57 months). Among the HBoV positive children, 14 were younger than 3 years old, 9 were younger than 1 year old and 7 were younger than 6 months. These 16 positive HBoV children exhibited coughing and abnormal chest radiography findings and more than 60% of these children had wheezing and fever. Ten children were clinically diagnosed with pneumonia, 2 bronchiolitis, 2 acute bronchitis and 2 asthma. One child died.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HBoV was detected in about 5% of children with acute lower respiratory infection seen in Beijing Children's Hospital. Further investigations regarding clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of HBoV infection are needed.
authors.affiliation: Virus Laboratory, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100045, China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liu-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Zheng-De
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiao-Juan
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Chong-Shan
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ai-Li
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Song-Tao
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Nai-Ying
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Wen-Bo
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Kun-Ling
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D052660:Bocavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010322:Parvoviridae Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology