Reasonable Rascal
11-06-02, 20:16
METAPNEUMOVIRUS, CHILDREN - FINLAND
***************************************
A ProMED-mail post
Date: Tue 5 Nov 2002
From: Jaime R. Torres, ProMED-ESP
Source: The Lancet, 360:1393-1394, Sat 2 Nov 2002 [edited]
<http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol360/iss9343/abs/llan.360.9343.original_research.22969.1>
Metapneumovirus Infection and Acute Wheezing in Finnish Children
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[In The Lancet 2002;360:1393-1394, Jartti et al. report the following:] A new respiratory virus, human metapneumovirus, was recently identified [in the Netherlands]. We detected this virus by PCR in 10 (8 percent) of 132 consecutive children admitted to Turku Hospital, Finland, for acute expiratory wheezing (median age 7 months, range 4 to 25 months). The mean duration of hospital stay was 2·5 days (SD 1·6) and mean duration of respiratory symptoms was 19 days. The white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, and regulated upon activation, normal T-cell-expressed and T-cell-secreted (RANTES) concentrations in nasal secretion remained low, whereas interleukin 8 concentrations in nasal secretion were high. Human
metapneumovirus is a clinically important causative agent of acute wheezing in young children.
--
ProMED-mail
[This is the latest report identifying human metapneumovirus as an important respiratory pathogen of human infancy since the virus was described initially by van den Hoogen et al. in the Netherlands in 2001. Subsequently human metapneumovirus infection has been reported from Australia, Canada, and the UK. These previous reports, together with the current report, indicate that human metapneumovirus is prevalent worldwide.
In their original paper van den Hoogen et al. reported that from 28 young children in the Netherlands (all negative for human respiratory syncytial virus), they isolated a paramyxovirus that was identified as a tentative new member of the genus _Metapneumovirus_ based on virological data, sequence homology, and gene constellation. Previously, turkey rhinotracheitis virus was the sole member of this recently assigned genus, hence the provisional name for the newly discovered virus is _Human metapneumovirus_. The clinical symptoms of the children from whom the virus was isolated were similar to those caused by human respiratory syncytial virus infection, ranging from upper respiratory tract disease to severe
bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Serological studies showed that by the age of 5 years, virtually all children in the Netherlands have been exposed to human metapneumovirus and that the virus has been circulating in humans for at least 50 years.
Stockton et al. (2002) reported that in the UK 2.2 percent of infants with unattributed acute respiratory tract infections were positive for human metapneumovirus. Boivin et al. (2002) in Canada reported that human metapneumovirus (like human respiratory syncytial virus) was associated with severe lower respiratory tract infection in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. In Australia, Nissen et al. (2002) identified human metapneumovirus in children with acute lower respiratory tract infection of unknown etiology. Molecular biological studies by van den Hoogen et al. (2002) have confirmed a close genetic relationship between human metapneumovirus and turkey rhinotracheitis virus (56-88 percent amino acid sequence identity for corresponding open reading frames).
It is becoming clear that human metapneumovirus is a novel human pathogen contributing to acute respiratory illness in infancy and very probably in the elderly. Its importance relative to human respiratory syncytial virus has yet to be established.
References:
van den hoogen B.G. et al., Nat Med, 7(6), 719-724, 2001.
Stockton J. et al., Emerg Infect Dis, 8(9), 897-901, 2002.
Boivin G. et al., J Infect Dis 186(9), 1330-1334, 2002.
Nissen M.D. et al., Med J Aust 176(4), 188, 2002.
van den Hoogen B.G. et al., Virology 295(1), 119-132, 2002 - Mod.CP]
***************************************
A ProMED-mail post
Date: Tue 5 Nov 2002
From: Jaime R. Torres, ProMED-ESP
Source: The Lancet, 360:1393-1394, Sat 2 Nov 2002 [edited]
<http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol360/iss9343/abs/llan.360.9343.original_research.22969.1>
Metapneumovirus Infection and Acute Wheezing in Finnish Children
---------------------------------------------------------------
[In The Lancet 2002;360:1393-1394, Jartti et al. report the following:] A new respiratory virus, human metapneumovirus, was recently identified [in the Netherlands]. We detected this virus by PCR in 10 (8 percent) of 132 consecutive children admitted to Turku Hospital, Finland, for acute expiratory wheezing (median age 7 months, range 4 to 25 months). The mean duration of hospital stay was 2·5 days (SD 1·6) and mean duration of respiratory symptoms was 19 days. The white blood cell count, C-reactive protein, and regulated upon activation, normal T-cell-expressed and T-cell-secreted (RANTES) concentrations in nasal secretion remained low, whereas interleukin 8 concentrations in nasal secretion were high. Human
metapneumovirus is a clinically important causative agent of acute wheezing in young children.
--
ProMED-mail
[This is the latest report identifying human metapneumovirus as an important respiratory pathogen of human infancy since the virus was described initially by van den Hoogen et al. in the Netherlands in 2001. Subsequently human metapneumovirus infection has been reported from Australia, Canada, and the UK. These previous reports, together with the current report, indicate that human metapneumovirus is prevalent worldwide.
In their original paper van den Hoogen et al. reported that from 28 young children in the Netherlands (all negative for human respiratory syncytial virus), they isolated a paramyxovirus that was identified as a tentative new member of the genus _Metapneumovirus_ based on virological data, sequence homology, and gene constellation. Previously, turkey rhinotracheitis virus was the sole member of this recently assigned genus, hence the provisional name for the newly discovered virus is _Human metapneumovirus_. The clinical symptoms of the children from whom the virus was isolated were similar to those caused by human respiratory syncytial virus infection, ranging from upper respiratory tract disease to severe
bronchiolitis and pneumonia. Serological studies showed that by the age of 5 years, virtually all children in the Netherlands have been exposed to human metapneumovirus and that the virus has been circulating in humans for at least 50 years.
Stockton et al. (2002) reported that in the UK 2.2 percent of infants with unattributed acute respiratory tract infections were positive for human metapneumovirus. Boivin et al. (2002) in Canada reported that human metapneumovirus (like human respiratory syncytial virus) was associated with severe lower respiratory tract infection in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. In Australia, Nissen et al. (2002) identified human metapneumovirus in children with acute lower respiratory tract infection of unknown etiology. Molecular biological studies by van den Hoogen et al. (2002) have confirmed a close genetic relationship between human metapneumovirus and turkey rhinotracheitis virus (56-88 percent amino acid sequence identity for corresponding open reading frames).
It is becoming clear that human metapneumovirus is a novel human pathogen contributing to acute respiratory illness in infancy and very probably in the elderly. Its importance relative to human respiratory syncytial virus has yet to be established.
References:
van den hoogen B.G. et al., Nat Med, 7(6), 719-724, 2001.
Stockton J. et al., Emerg Infect Dis, 8(9), 897-901, 2002.
Boivin G. et al., J Infect Dis 186(9), 1330-1334, 2002.
Nissen M.D. et al., Med J Aust 176(4), 188, 2002.
van den Hoogen B.G. et al., Virology 295(1), 119-132, 2002 - Mod.CP]