Molecular epidemiological characteristics of human rhinovirus in adults with upper respiratory tract infection in Nanjing / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the clinical and epidemiological features of human rhinovirus (HRV) infection in adult patients with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in Nanjing.Methods:Epidemiological data of adult patients with URTI in Nanjing from October 2021 to September 2022 were collected. Clinical specimens were collected and subjected to quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for the detection of 14 common respiratory viruses. The VP4/VP2 genes in HRV-positive samples were amplified and sequenced. Then a phylogenetic tree was constructed.Results:A total of 399 pharyngeal swabs were collected from patients with URTI. The overall positive rate of respiratory viruses was 28.07% (112/399) with HRV accounting for most at 9.52% (38/399). Thirty-seven VP4/VP2 sequences were successfully obtained from the 38 HRV-positive specimens. Three genotypes involving 25 serotypes were identified with 13 strains belonging to HRV-A, 14 belonging to HRV-B, and 10 belonging to HRV-C. The three genotypes of HRV showed alternate prevalence or co-prevalence.Conclusions:HRV was the main pathogen causing URTI in adult patients in Nanjing from October 2021 to September 2022, and three genotypes of HRV-A, B and C were prevalent alternatively or together.