Comparison of human parechovirus and enterovirus detection frequencies in cerebrospinal fluid samples collected over a 5-year period in edinburgh: HPeV type 3 identified as the most common picornavirus type

Human enteroviruses (EVs) and more recently parechoviruses (HPeVs) have been identified as the principal viral causes of neonatal sepsis‐like disease and meningitis. The relative frequencies of specific EV and HPeV types were determined over a 5‐year surveillance period using highly sensitive EV and HPeV PCR assays for screening 4,168 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens collected from hospitalized individuals between 2005 and 2010 in Edinburgh. Positive CSF samples were typed by sequencing of VP1. From the 201 EV and 31 HPeV positive (uncultured) CSF samples on screening, a high proportion of available samples could be directly typed (176/182, 97%). Highest frequencies of EV infections occurred in young adults (n = 43; 8.6%) although a remarkably high proportion of positive samples (n = 98; 46%) were obtained from young infants (