Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Jul;41(7):2987-91.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.41.7.2987-2991.2003.

Human metapneumovirus associated with respiratory tract infections in a 3-year study of nasal swabs from infants in Italy

Fabrizio Maggi  1 , Massimo Pifferi, Marialinda Vatteroni, Claudia Fornai, Elena Tempestini, Silvia Anzilotti, Letizia Lanini, Elisabetta Andreoli, Vincenzo Ragazzo, Mauro Pistello, Steven Specter, Mauro Bendinelli
Affiliations

Human metapneumovirus associated with respiratory tract infections in a 3-year study of nasal swabs from infants in Italy

Fabrizio Maggi et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Jul.

Abstract

The newly described human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is reported here to be more commonly associated with lower respiratory tract disease. The present study examined nasal swab specimens from 90 infants with acute respiratory tract infections in Pisa, Italy, over a period of three respiratory virus seasons. The incidence of infection varied in each of the 3 years, with the rates of positivity for hMPV being 7% in 2001 but 37 and 43% in 2000 and 2002, respectively. hMPV was noted to occur seasonally in a pattern typical of the frequency of occurrence of respiratory syncytial virus. More than one-half (14 of 23) of the infants infected with hMPV had bronchopneumonia. One-third (9 of 23) of the hMPV-infected patients were also infected with another respiratory virus, a relationship that has not previously been reported. Mixed infections did not account for a higher percentage of cases of bronchopneumonia than hMPV infection alone did. Furthermore, 7 of 17 infants whose plasma was also tested for hMPV RNA were demonstrated to have virus in both nasal swab and blood specimens. The study indicates that hMPV is seen as commonly as other respiratory viruses, may be associated with severe respiratory disease in infants, can establish mixed infections with other respiratory viruses, and has a seasonal occurrence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Phylogenetic analysis of 15 hMPV isolates from the present study. The tree is based on a 102-bp segment from the L gene of the viral genome. The branching pattern of the tree was obtained by the neighbor-joining algorithm, with randomization of the input order of sequences. Bootstrap resampling was used to test the robustness of the tree, and bootstrap values above 90% for 1,000 replicates are shown at the branch points. Genetic distances were calculated by using the Poisson correction distance (Poisson P), as provided by the DAMBE program (version 4.1.0). Nasal isolates from the present study are shown in boldface and are labeled with the year of specimen collection (last two digits). GenBank sequences are indicated by isolate name. Avian pneumovirus C (APV-C; GenBank accession number AF176591) was used as the outgroup. The bar represents the number of nucleotide substitutions per site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Boivin, G., Y. Abed, G. Pelletier, L. Ruel, D. Moisan, S. Cote, T. C. T. Peret, D. D. Erdman, and L. J. Anderson. 2002. Virological features and clinical manifestations associated with human metapneumovirus: a new paramyxovirus responsible for acute respiratory-tract infections in all age groups. J. Infect. Dis. 186:1330-1334. - PubMed
    1. Howe, M. 2002. Australian find suggests worldwide reach for metapneumovirus. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2:202. - PMC - PubMed
    1. International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. 2000. Family Paramyxoviridae, p. 549-561. In M. H. V. van Regenmortel, C. M. Fauquet, D. H. L. Bishop, E. B. Carstens, M. K. Estes, S. M. Lemon, J. Maniloff, M. A. Mayo, D. J. McGeoch, C. R. Pringle, and R. B. Wicker (ed.), Virus taxonomy. Seventh Report of the Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, Calif.
    1. Ison, M. G., and F. G. Hayden. 2002. Viral infections in immunocompromised patients: what's new with respiratory viruses? Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 15:355-367. - PubMed
    1. Jartti, T., B. van den Hoogen, R. P. Garofalo, A. D. M. E. Osterhaus, and O. Ruuskanen. 2002. Metapneumovirus and acute wheezing in children. Lancet 360:1393-1394. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources