Acute respiratory infection by human metapneumovirus in children in southern Brazil

Abstract Background Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has been described as an etiologic agent of acute respiratory infections (ARI), mainly in pediatric patients. Viral isolation is difficult and has low sensitivity, and consequently RT-PCR assays are currently used for detection. Objectives Detect hMPV in ARI in hospitalized children in Southern Brazil; standardize a RT-PCR for routine hMPV diagnosis; validate a positive control for molecular tests; and perform phylogenetics analyses. Study design Nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from 156 hospitalized children were studied. A conserved region of the nucleoprotein gene was cloned, characterized and used to standardize an RT-PCR assay. Phylogenetic analyses were performed. Clinical data were obtained from medical records. Results hMPV was detected in 6.4% of the samples. Dyspnea and wheezing were frequently reported symptoms and the most common diagnoses were bronchiolitis, acute respiratory insufficiency or laryngotracheobronchitis. Nucleotide sequence alignment revealed 97.7% identity with genotype A1 of hMPV. The detection limit of hMPV genomes by RT-PCR in clinical samples was 180 copies/μL. Conclusion This is the first report of the detection and genetic characterization of hMPV infections in children with lower ARI in Southern Brazil.