title: Detection of the human coronavirus 229E, HKU1, NL63, and OC43 between 2010 and 2013 in Yamagata, Japan.
abstract: The available literature on human coronaviruses (HCoVs) in Japan is limited to epidemiological studies conducted over a maximum of 1 year. We conducted a 4-year study of HCoVs by analyzing 4,342 respiratory specimens obtained in Yamagata, Japan, between January 2010 and December 2013. A pan-coronavirus reverse transcription-PCR screening assay was performed, and all HCoV-positive specimens were subsequently confirmed by sequencing of the PCR products. We detected in 332 (7.6%) HCoV strains during the study period, comprising 133 (3.1%) HCoV-NL63, 83 (1.9%) HCoV-HKU1, 78 (1.8%) HCoV-OC43, and 38 (0.9%) HCoV-229E strains. HCoV detection per year ranged from 3.5% to 9.7%. HCoVs were detected mainly in winter, with January (28.5%) and February (25.3%) 2011 and December 2012 (14.6%) being the only months in which HCoV-NL63 detection per month exceeded 10.0%. HCoV-HKU1 displayed clear biennial peaks in January (18.3%) and February (10.7%) 2010 and in February (18.8%) and March (14.7%) 2012. The peak detection of HCoV-OC43 was 13.6% in November 2010, while that of HCoV-229E was 10.8% in March 2013. Our results indicated that there may be annual variations in the circulation of individual HCoV strains. Further long-term surveillance is necessary to clarify HCoV prevalence and circulation patterns in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Yamagata Prefectural Institute of Public Health.
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matoba
authors.forename: Chieko
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abiko
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kazue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yahagi
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itagaki
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Katsushima
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katsushima
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012621:Seasons; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA