ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and genotypes of human rhinovirus (HRV) in patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Qingdao in the winter of 2020.Methods:Throat swab samples were collected from 101 patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Qingdao from November 2020 to January 2021. Quantitative PCR was used to detect 15 common respiratory viruses in the samples. HRV-positive samples were further analyzed with RT-PCR to amplify and sequence HRV VP4/VP2 gene. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the sequencing results and homology analysis was conducted.Results:Six common respiratory viruses were detected in the 101 patients. Thirty-four cases (34/101, 33.66%) were single pathogen infection and two cases were multiple infection (2/101, 1.98%). The positive rate of HRV was the highest (21.78%, 22/101). Twenty HRV VP4/VP2 sequences were successfully amplified. Phylogenetic analysis showed that there were 16 strains of HRV-A subtype and four strains of HRV-C subtype and 14 serotypes were involved.Conclusions:HRV was one of the leading viral pathogens causing upper respiratory tract infection in Qingdao in the winter of 2020 and the predominant subtype was HRV-A.