Human metapneumovirus associated with community-acquired pneumonia in children in Beijing, China

Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. However, few studies have been conducted on the infection of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) associated with pediatric community-acquired pneumonia in China. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected between July 2008 and June 2010 from 1,028 children, aged ≤16.5 years, who were diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia in Beijing, China. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to screen the samples for hMPV and common respiratory viruses. hMPV was detected in 6.3% of the patients with community-acquired pneumonia. This detection rate is the third highest for a respiratory virus in children with community-acquired pneumonia, after that of rhinovirus (30.9%) and respiratory syncytial virus (30.7%). The detection rate of hMPV in 2008/2009 (42/540, 7.8%) was significantly higher than in 2009/2010 (23/488, 4.7%; χ(2) = 4.065, P = 0.044). The hMPV subtypes A2, B1, and B2 were found to co-circulate, with A2 being most prevalent. These results indicate that hMPV plays a substantial role in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia in China. Overall, these findings provide a better understanding of the epidemiological and clinical features of hMPV infections.

Figure 1

Annual detection rates of hMPV and RSV in different age groups of pediatric patients with community‐acquired pneumonia. Left Y‐axis, number of cases positive for hMPV or RSV; right Y‐axis, percentage of cases positive for viral detection. The annual detection rates of hMPV and RSV and the annual percentage of viral detection in pediatric community‐acquired pneumonia cases are shown.

Figure 2

hMPV subtypes detected in each month during the study period. The subtypes of hMPV (A2, B1, and B2) are represented by different shades, as indicated in the figure key.