Human Bocavirus infection and respiratory tract disease identified in a UK patient cohort

Bagasi, Arwa A.; Howson-Wells, Hannah C.; Clark, Gemma; Tarr, Alexander W.; Soo, Shiu; Irving, William L.; McClure, C. Patrick

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Background: Since its first isolation in 2005, Human Bocavirus (HBoV) has been repeatedly associated with acute respiratory tract infections, although its role in pathogenicity remains unclear due to high co-infection rates. Objectives: To assess HBoV prevalence and associated disease in a cohort of respiratory patients in the East Midlands, UK between 2015 and 2019. Study design: We initially investigated the undiagnosed burden of HBoV in a retrospective paediatric cohort sampled between 2015 and 2017 using an in-house PCR assay. HBoV was subsequently incorporated into the standard respiratory diagnostic pathway and we audited a calendar year of HBoV positive results between 2018 and 2019. Results: Our retrospective PCR screening of previously routine diagnostic-negative samples from juvenile patients identified a 9% (n = 30) prevalence of HBoV type 1. These apparent HBoV1 mono-infections were frequently associated with respiratory tract symptoms, often severe requiring ventilation, oxygen and steroid intervention with 31% (n = 9) of individuals requiring intensive care. When HBoV screening was subsequently adopted into the routine respiratory diagnostic pathway, year-round infections were observed in both children and adults peaking in February. 185 of 9098 (2.03%) individuals were found to be HBoV positive with children aged 12–24 months the principally infected group. However, HBoV infection was also observed in patients aged over 60, predominantly as a mono-infection. 23% of the 185 unique patients were HBoV monoinfected and persistent low-level DNA positivity was observed in 15 individuals up to 6-months after initial presentation. Conclusion: HBoV1 is a prevalent respiratory infection in the UK capable of causing serious monoinfections.

Citation

Bagasi, A. A., Howson-Wells, H. C., Clark, G., Tarr, A. W., Soo, S., Irving, W. L., & McClure, C. P. (2020). Human Bocavirus infection and respiratory tract disease identified in a UK patient cohort. Journal of Clinical Virology, 129, Article 104453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104453

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 18, 2020
• Online Publication Date: May 21, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 22, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Virology
• Print ISSN: 1386-6532
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-5967
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 129
• Article Number: 104453
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104453
• Keywords: Human Bocavirus respiratory virus viral co-infection viral mono-infection viral bronchiolitis viral pneumonia
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4486595
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386653220301955#sec0035