Detection and identification of human metapneumovirus infection in Shenzhen children

Objective To detect human metapneumovirus (hMPV)in respiratory intection rapidly and perform molecular analysis of hMPV.Methods Seven respiratory tract virus(11 subtypes)were assessed using multiplex PCR technology and flexible Multi-Analyte Profiling(suspension array).Human metapneumovirus was confirmed by using a real.Time reverse ranscriptase CR(RT-PCR)assay followed by sequencing.The cladogram analysis was performed further.Results The virus were detected in 40.2%(19/47)samples collected from clinicsl respiratory tract infections,including 8(42.1%)HRSV,7(36.8%)influenza virus,1(5.3%)parainfluenza virus,1(5.3%)rhinovirus,1(5.3%) coxsackievirus and 1(5.3%)human etapneumovirus infections.This is the first time that hMPV was deteced from clinical samples in Shenzhen.The sequencing of specific fragment of neucleoprotein of hMPV showed this hMPV shares over 98% homology with Beijing strain.Japan strain and Thailand strain.The cladogram analysis showed that they were in the same cluste.Conclusions Human etapneumovirus is a maior cause of children respiratory tract disease. Multiplex PCR technology and nexible Multi-Analyte Profiling were hish sensitive and high-throughput for detection of human metapneumovirus.They axe very robust and applicable in etiology analysis. Key words: Respiratory tract infections;  Metapneumovirus;  Nucleocapsid proteins;  Sequenceanalysis,DNA;  Polymerase chain reaction;  Child