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. 2022 Oct 19;9(10):ofac387.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac387. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Comparison of Rhinovirus A-, B-, and C-Associated Respiratory Tract Illness Severity Based on the 5'-Untranslated Region Among Children Younger Than 5 Years

Akiko Sayama  1 , Michiko Okamoto  1 , Raita Tamaki  1   2   3 , Mariko Saito-Obata  1 , Mayuko Saito  1 , Taro Kamigaki  1 , Yusuke Sayama  1 , Irene Lirio  4 , Joanna Ina G Manalo  4 , Veronica L Tallo  4 , Socorro P Lupisan  4 , Hitoshi Oshitani  1
Affiliations

Comparison of Rhinovirus A-, B-, and C-Associated Respiratory Tract Illness Severity Based on the 5'-Untranslated Region Among Children Younger Than 5 Years

Akiko Sayama et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Rhinoviruses (RVs) are among the most frequently detected viruses from hospitalized children with severe acute respiratory infections, being classified into RV-A, RV-B, and RV-C (4 clades: C, GAC1, GAC2, and A2). This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and respiratory tract illness severity between the RV species and RV-C clades in children in primary care and hospital settings in rural communities in the Philippines.

Methods: Clinical samples and information of children <5 years old in the Philippines were collected from 2014 to 2016. The samples were tested by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting the 5'-untranslated region. PCR-positive samples were sequenced, and RV species were identified by phylogenetic analysis.

Results: Overall, 3680 respiratory tract illness episodes in 1688 cohort children were documented; 713 of those were RV positive and identified as RV-A (n = 271), RV-B (n = 47), and RV-C (n = 395: C [n = 76], GAG1 [n = 172], GAG2 [n = 8], A2 [n = 138], and unidentified [n = 1]). Severe illnesses, low oxygen saturation, cough, and wheezing were more common in patients with RV-C, especially with GAC1, than in those with RV-A or RV-B. Furthermore, severe illness was significantly more common in RV-C (GAC1)-positive cases than in RV-A-positive cases (odds ratio, 2.61 [95% CI, 1.17-4.13]).

Conclusions: Children infected with RV-C had more severe illnesses than children infected with RV-A and RV-B. Moreover, emerging clades of RV-C were associated with increased severity.

Keywords: Philippines; children; respiratory tract illness; rhinovirus; severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Potential conflicts of interest. The authors: No reported conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Phylogenetic analysis of the 5′-UTR sequence of rhinovirus. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by using MEGA software, which features a bootstrap test with the neighbor-joining method with pairwise deletion option. The 345 nucleotide in the 5′-UTR of the available rhinovirus sequences in GenBank was used to create the phylogenetic tree. Black indicates sequences of collected samples, and red indicates reference sequences. Abbreviations: EV, enterovirus; RV, rhinovirus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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