title: Prevalence of human rhinovirus in children admitted to hospital with acute lower respiratory tract infections in Changsha, China.
abstract: Human rhinovirus (HRV) is a causative agent of acute respiratory tract infections. This study analyzed the prevalence and clinical characteristics of three HRV groups (HRV-A, -B, and -C) among 1,165 children aged 14 years or younger who were hospitalized with acute lower respiratory tract infection in China. PCR or reverse transcription-PCR was performed to detect 14 respiratory viruses in nasopharyngeal aspirates collected from September 2007 to August 2008 in Changsha, China. HRV was detected in 202 (17.3%) of the 1,165 children; 25.3% of the HRV-positive children were 13-36 months of age (χ(2)  = 22.803, P = 0.000). HRV was detected year round and peaked between September and December. Fifty-three percent of the HRV-positive samples were also positive for other respiratory viruses; respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was the most common secondary virus. Phylogenetic analysis using the VP4/VP2 region grouped the HRV-positive strains as follows: 101 HRV-A (50.0%), 21 HRV-B (10.4%), and 80 HRV-C (39.6%). HRV-A infections occurred predominantly in spring and autumn, and the peak prevalence of HRV-C was in early winter and late autumn. HRV-B infections were less common in spring (χ(2)  = 31.914, P = 0.000). No significant difference in clinical severity or presentation was found between patients with HRV single infection and HRV co-detections. Furthermore, the clinical characterizations did not differ among the three HRV species. These results suggest that HRV-C is an important viral agent along with HRV-A and HRV-B and that among hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract infection in China, the three HRV genotypes have similar clinical characteristics.
authors.affiliation: The People's Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, China.
authors.forename: Sai-Zhen
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Ni-Guang
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Zhi-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Guang-Cheng
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhao-Jun
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Duan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D060085:Coinfection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009305:Nasopharynx / Q000821:virology; D010802:Phylogeny; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D012229:Rhinovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012621:Seasons; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: China; acute lower respiratory tract infections; child; human rhinovirus