Characterization of Human Coronavirus OC43 and Human... : The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (original) (raw)

Original Studies

Characterization of Human Coronavirus OC43 and Human Coronavirus NL63 Infections Among Hospitalized Children <5 Years of Age

From the *Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; and †Department of Pediatrics, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Accepted for publication January 24, 2014.

This study was supported by departmental funds,

The authors have no other funding or conflicts of interest to disclose.

This study was approved by the Washington University Human Research Protection Office (IRB No. 201302062).

Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal’s website (www.pidj.com).

Address for correspondence: Gregory Storch, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8116, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63110. E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

Background:

Multiplex molecular assays now make it possible for clinical laboratories to detect human coronaviruses (HCoVs). We investigated the clinical characteristics of HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 in patients <5 years of age during a recent coronavirus season.

Methods:

Respiratory viruses were detected using a multiplex molecular assay at St. Louis Children`s Hospital starting in November 2012. We analyzed demographic and clinical data from all patients <5 years of age with solo detection of HCoV-OC43 (n = 52) and HCoV-NL63 (n = 44) and for comparison, samples of children with respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus and picornaviruses.

Results:

During the study period, HCoV-OC43 (4%) was the 5th and HCoV-NL63 the 8th (2%) most common respiratory virus. Coinfections were detected in 35% and 38% of children with HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63, respectively. Croup was more common with HCoV-NL63 (30%) than with HCoV-OC43 (2%). Lower respiratory tract infection occurred in 33% of children with HCoV-OC43 and 25% of children with HCoV-NL63. Severe illness was less common in HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43 and parainfluenza virus (14%, each) compared with respiratory syncytial virus (30%) and picornaviruses (26%; P = 0.055 for HCoVs combined compared with the other respiratory viruses) and occurred mainly in those with underlying medical conditions.

Conclusions:

Infections caused by HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 are common and include some with lower respiratory tract involvement and severe disease, especially in children with underlying medical conditions. Overall, a substantial burden of disease associated with both HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-NL63 was observed for hospitalized children <5 years of age.