RESUMEN
We studied the epidemiological characteristics of human bocavirus 4 (HBoV4) in children with a- cute gastroenteritis in Lanzhou (China). A total of 331 stool specimens were collected from children aged < 5 years with acute diarrhea at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University between July 2012 and June 2013. Specimens of HBoV were identified by nested polymerase chain reaction assays. Compared with related sequences in GenBank, the HBoV-positive strain isolated in the present study was,quite surprisingly, a rare genotype named HBoV4. This strain was a typical HBoV4,with high levels of nucleotide and amino acid homology to the Thailand strain, JQ267789 (98.9% and 98.7%, respectively), and the USA strain, GQ506568 (97.6% and 97.4%, respectively). This is the first report of HBoV4 as the causative agent for acute gastroenteritis in pediatric patients in China. This strain is one of two genotypes of HBoV that are currently circulating.