Caracterização molecular dos quatro subtipos do metapneumovírus humano em crianças atendidas em Uberlândia, MG, Brasil

Abstract

The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a pathogen of the respiratory tract first identified in The Netherlands in 2001 and since then has already been detected in all continents. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize hMPV in samples collected from children <5 years presenting acute respiratory disease seen at a public hospital in Uberlândia, in Southeast Brazil. One hundred fourteen nasopharyngeal aspirates samples that were negative for nine other respiratory viruses were tested by RT-PCR to the presence of hMPV RNA. PCR products obtained by the amplification reaction of the N hMPV gene, were sequenced and compared with sequences deposited in GenBank. Fourteen out of 114 (12.3%) samples were positive for presence of hMPV RNA; sequences from eight samples were obtained and all four subtypes were identified, including the novel sublineages A2a and A2b; mean age was 21 months old; upper respiratory tract infection was the most common clinical symptom; the virus was detected in samples collected from March to November, a period that corresponds to late summer to mid-spring in Brazil. As far as is known, this is the first study to describe the circulation of the four subtypes of hMPV in Brazil