Spread of different rhinovirus B genotypes in hospitalized children in Spain

Please cite this paper as: Cuevas et al. (2013) Spread of different rhinovirus B genotypes in hospitalized children in Spain. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 7(5), 623–628. Human Rhinovirus (HRV) classification is an evolving process. New genotypes have been described within HRV-A and HRV-C species, but only one has been accepted related to HRV-B. From 2003 to 2010, a total of 3987 nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were taken from pediatric patients admitted to the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Madrid (Spain). After viral analysis, 949 (23·8%) tested positive to HRV. A random selection of 397 (42%) positive samples showed that 39 (9·8%) were HRV-B. The sequencing of partial VP4/VP2 coding region revealed the spread of 13 of 25 defined HRV-B serotypes and three putative new genotypes. Such results remark the high diversity of HRV-B.