Human Parvovirus 4: A harmless bystander or a pathogen of severe acute respiratory illness

•Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.•We investigated the association of PARV4 virus with SARI.•PARV4 was detected in 26.55% of cases and only in one healthy control (0.68%).•Detection of PARV4 is seen in a significantly large number of SARI cases.•PARV4 genotype 2 was the only genotype detected from cases as well as controls. Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, caused by a large number of viral and bacterial agents. PARV4 is a recently identified virus detected in human blood and variety of tissues, but its disease association with SARI could not be established. In the present case control study, we aim to investigate the association of PARV4 with SARI. The Nasal and Throat swab (NS/TS) samples of 241 cases and 146 healthy controls were tested for most common respiratory viruses and PARV4 by real-time PCR. PARV4 was detected in 64(26.55%) SARI cases and only one healthy control (0.68%). PARV4 was the most common viral agent detected in SARI cases. A strong association of PARV4 is seen with severe respiratory illness. Detection of PARV4 in a significantly higher number of SARI cases, in comparison with controls, suggests association of PARV4 with SARI. PARV4 genotype 2 is the only circulating strain detected in our study.