Human rhinovirus C infections mirror those of human rhinovirus A in children with community-acquired pneumonia.
BACKGROUND
Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are among the most common causes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. However, the differential roles of the three HRV species HRV-A, HRV-B, and HRV-C in pediatric CAP are not fully understood.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the distribution of HRV species and their roles in children hospitalized with CAP in Beijing, China.


METHODS
Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected between April 2007 and March 2008 from 554 children with a primary diagnosis of CAP. HRVs in the clinical samples were detected by RT-PCR and by sequencing. Infections with other respiratory viruses were identified by PCR.


RESULTS
HRVs were detected in 99 patients (17.87%). Among these patients, 51.52% tested positive for HRV-A, 38.38% for HRV-C, and 10.10% for HRV-B. HRVs were detected throughout the study period. The monthly distribution of HRV infections varied with HRV species. Median age, gender, symptoms, severity, and duration of hospitalization for single HRV-C infections were similar to those observed for single HRV-A infections. Co-infections with other respiratory viruses were detected in 57.58% of the HRV-positive children. HRV/RSV dual infections were correlated with a higher frequency of shortness of breath (HRV-A group, P(2 tail)= 0.01; HRV-C group, P(2 tail) = 0.015) and lower median ages (HRV-A group, P(2 tail) = 0.049; HRV-C group, P(2 tail) = 0.009).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows that HRV-C strains circulate at a prevalence intermediate between HRV-A and HRV-B. The severity of clinical manifestations for HRV-C is comparable to that for HRV-A in children with CAP. These findings point to an important role of both HRV-A and HRV-C in pediatric CAP.
Xiang
Zichun
Z
Christophe Mérieux Laboratory, IPB, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100730, PR China.
Gonzalez
Richard
R
Xie
Zhengde
Z
Xiao
Yan
Y
Liu
Jun
J
Chen
Lan
L
Liu
Chunyan
C
Zhang
Jing
J
Ren
Lili
L
Vernet
Guy
G
Paranhos-Baccalà
Gláucia
G
Shen
Kunling
K
Jin
Qi
Q
Wang
Jianwei
J
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D012367:RNA, Viral