Clinical significance of different virus load of human bocavirus in patients with lower respiratory tract infection

Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 1:6:20246. doi: 10.1038/srep20246.

Abstract

To assess the impact of human bocavirus (HBoV) virus load on epidemiologic and clinical characteristics in children with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). Clinical records of a total of 654 patients with HBoV infection during January 2013 and December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with high HBoV virus load infection had a similar age distribution with the total HBoV infection, which had a peak age group of 6-24 months. Patients with high virus load are significantly younger (P < 0.01) than those with low load. The patients who had wheeze and tachypnea/dyspnea at presentation were more strongly affiliated with the patients with high virus load (both P < 0.01). Co-infection was found significantly more frequently among patients with low virus load than those with high virus load (57.0% vs 38.9%; P < 0.01). High virus load was a significant predictor of severe LRTI (P < 0.05). HBoV infections are found in an important proportion of the hospitalized children with respiratory illnesses (8.85% in our series). A high HBoV virus load could be an etiologic agent for LRTI, which may lead to more severe lower respiratory tract symptom and severe disease.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Coinfection
  • DNA, Viral
  • Female
  • Human bocavirus* / genetics
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Nasopharynx / virology
  • Parvoviridae Infections / diagnosis*
  • Parvoviridae Infections / epidemiology
  • Parvoviridae Infections / virology*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / diagnosis*
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / epidemiology
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / virology*
  • Risk Factors
  • Seasons
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Viral Load*

Substances

  • DNA, Viral