An outbreak of coronavirus OC43 respiratory infection in Normandy, France

Abstract

The 2 groups of human coronaviruses (HCoVs) represented by the prototype strains HCoV 229E and HCoV OC43 are mostly known as viruses responsible for common cold syndrome. HCoVs are difficult to detect, and epidemiological data are rare. From October 2000 through April 2001, we tested 1803 respiratory samples for HCoV by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. From 8 February through 27 March 2001, HCoV OC43 was detected in samples obtained from 30 (6%) of 501 patients. The other viruses detected were respiratory syncytial virus (6.1%), parainfluenza virus 3 (1%), influenza virus A (7.8%), influenza virus B (7.2%), rhinovirus (6.4%), enterovirus (1%), and adenovirus (2%). Infection with HCoV OC43 was detected in patients of all age groups. The following clinical symptoms were noted: fever (in 59.8% of patients), general symptoms (in 30%), digestive problems (in 56.8%), rhinitis (in 36.6%), pharyngitis (in 30%), laryngitis (in 3.3%), otitis (in 13.3%), bronchitis (in 16.6%), bronchiolitis (in 10%), and pneumonia (in 6.6%). This study shows that an outbreak of HCoV OC43 respiratory infection was responsible for the lower respiratory tract symptoms observed in nearly one-third of patients identified by active surveillance for coronavirus infection.

Table 1

Viruses detected in 501 respiratory samples received at the Laboratory of Human and Molecular Virology, University Hospital, Caen, France, February and March 2001.

Figure 1

Phylogenetic tree of the 20 respiratory isolates of human coronavirus OC43 and the prototype strain OC43 used as the control in our laboratory. The tree was created using the Clustal method. The OC43 strain and the strain referenced in GenBank (accession number M93390) did not differ. The isolates had several changes and clustered in different groups, conforming that there had been no contamination of PCR products.

Figure 2

Clinical data for 30 patients who tested positive for human coronavirus OC43 by RT-PCR hybridization, February and March 2001, Lower Normandy, France. Gen., general; pb, problems.