In 2005, a new human coronavirus, HCoV-HKU1, became known in Hong Kong. We tested breathing samples collected between December 16, 2001 and December 15, 2002 from children younger than five years who tested negative for syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, influenza virus, and adenovirus for HCoV-HKU1 via opposite transcriptase polymerase. A total of 1,048 breath samples from 851 young people were analyzed and nine HCoV-HKU1 positive (1%) young people were known, of which 2 had 2 positive samples. Inflamed children with HCoV-HKU1 showed symptoms of upper or lower respiratory tract infection, or both. Two patients had disease beyond the airways. HCoV-HKU1 was known from December 2001 to February 2002. Sequence analyses recommend that only one strain was circulating. HCoV-HKU1 is most likely circulating in the United States and is linked to upper and lower respiratory diseases.
Lower respiratory diseases are responsible for around four million deaths per year worldwide. [1] Viruses such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and parainfluenza viruses are to blame for much of this respiratory tract infection. However, in a proportion of diseases of the respiratory tract, no pathogens are identified. [2]
Coronaviruses (CoV) infect a wide variety of mammals and birds, causing diseases of the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. These viruses can be transmitted from one species to another. [3] In humans, CoV has been linked to community-acquired upper respiratory tract infections. [4] Human CoV (HCoV) has also been implicated in outbreaks of diarrhea and demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system; That data is controversial. [5,6] The study and identity of HCoV have been hampered by the difficulty of spreading. These viruses in vitro.
The identity of CoV related to severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 sparked renewed interest in the study of HCoV,[7] and four unknown HCoV were subsequently discovered in the past. HCoV-NL63, HCoV-NL and New Haven coronavirus (HCoV-NH) are very similar Group I CoVs and most likely constitute strains of the same virus species. [8,9,10] HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-NL were originally known through mobile culture techniques, whereas HCoV-NH was discovered using largely reactive CoV molecular probes. These similar viruses have been known in children and adults with respiratory tract disease. HCoV-NH was detected in 8. 8% of children younger than five years whose samples first tested negative for RSV, influenza, parainfluenza, and adenovirus. [10] In addition, these newly discovered viruses can cause illness beyond the respiratory tract. In a case-control study, HCoV-NH was found to be relevant to Kawasaki disease,[11] those data are controversial. [12,13]
In 2005, Woo et al. reported a new organization II CoV, designated HCoV-HKU1, in a 71-year-old man with pneumonia [14] who had recently returned to Hong Kong from Shenzhen, China. Similar to the discovery of HCoV-NH, [10] this virus was detected with molecular probes. Although expansion of HCoV-HKU1 in several mobile lines failed, the complete genomic series was obtained. Phylogenetic research has shown that this new CoV II organization is very similar to mouse hepatitis virus and is distinct from HCoV-OC43, the only other known HCoV II organization. Screening of 400 nasopharyngeal aspirates via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with HCoV-HKU1 express primers showed 1 additional isolation of HCoV-HKU1 from a 35-year-old woguy with pneumonia. Following the original report, HCoV-HKU1 was detected in 10 patients in northern Australia. [15] Respiratory samples were collected between May and August (winter in Australia) and examined by RT-PCR with non-CoV express and HKU1 express primers. Most of the HCoV-HKU1 positive samples were from children in the late winter months. However, the seasonal and geographic distribution of this virus is still unclear. To address those issues, we sought to find out if HCoV-HKU1 was circulating in New Haven, Connecticut, and to delineate clinical features relevant to HCoV-HKU1 infection in infants and young children.
Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2006; 12(4) 2006 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ©
*H, male; F, female; RAD, reactive airway disease; NH, not hospitalized; ALTE, a potentially fatal event; LFT, liver serve as tests (aspartate aminotransferase 238 U/mL, alanine aminotransferase 373 U/mL, alkaline phosphatase 406 U/mL, bilirubin [total/direct] 0. 15/0. 05 mg/dL). †Two respiratory samples tested positive for human coronavirus HKU1. ‡The patient required mechanical ventilation and admission to the pediatric intensive care unit.
Frank Esper,* Carla Weibel,† David Ferguson,† Marie L. Landry,†and Jeffrey S. Kahn † *Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. USA†Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USAU. S. Dr. Esper is an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Case Western Reserve University. His studies focus on the epidemiology and molecular biology of emerging and newly identified respiratory viruses.
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