Human Bocavirus Infection in Children With Acute Respiratory Tract Infection in India

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a new human parvovirus identified in children with respiratory tract disease. Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from 305 children <5 years of age with acute respiratory tract infection from April 2005 to March 2007 and screened for the presence of HBoV by two separate sets of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) described previously. Twenty-two (7.2%) children who had acute respiratory infection were found to be positive for HBoV by both sets of PCR. The main clinical symptoms were cough (95%), runny nose (64%), and fever (59%). In two samples, HBoV was identified together with respiratory syncytial virus in one sample and influenza A virus in another. HBoV appeared to have no seasonal distribution and is associated with both upper and lower respiratory tract disease in young children in India. J. Med. Virol. 82:812-816, 2010. (C)2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.