Journal Article

Human Metapneumovirus Reinfection among Children in Thailand Determined by ELISA Using Purified Soluble Fusion Protein

Hickey, Andrew C., Libraty, Daniel H., Green, Sharone, Jarman, Richard, Pavlin, Julie A., Endy, Timothy P., Gibbons, Robert V., Rothman, Alan L., Nisalak, Ananda, Broder, Christopher C., Ulbrandt, Nancy, Ennis, Francis A., Chan, Yee-Peng, Chunsuttiwat, Supamit, Boukhvalova, Marina S.

2008

Overview

Background. Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a newly discovered paramyxovirus that causes acute respiratory illness. Despite apparent near-universal exposure during early childhood, immunity is transient. Methods. An indirect screening enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a recombinant soluble fusion (F) glycoprotein derived from hMPV was used to test for anti-F IgG in 1380 pairs of acute- and convalescent-stage serum samples collected from children in Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand. Results. Of the 1380 serum sample pairs tested, 1376 (99.7%) showed evidence of prior infection with hMPV. Sixty-six paired specimens demonstrated a ⩾4-fold rise in titer, for an overall reinfection rate of 4.9%. Two children demonstrated evidence of an initial infection. Forty-eight of the 68 new infections or reinfections occurred in 2000, accounting for 13.2% of all nonflaviviral febrile illnesses in the study population in that year. Of 68 positive cases, 85.3% complained of cough and 66.2% complained of rhinorrhea, compared with 61.4% and 49.0% of negative cases, respectively (P < .01). All positive samples were also tested for an increase in titer of antibodies to respiratory syncytial virus F, and 27% exhibited a ⩾4-fold rise. Conclusion. These results demonstrate that hMPV reinfections cause illness at a rate equal to that seen for initial infections. hMPV may have a more significant impact in older children than previously realized and may be the cause of significant outbreaks in this population.

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press,University of Chicago Press,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Adolescent / Antibodies / Antigens / Biological and medical sciences / Child / Demography / Diseases / Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Glycoproteins / Human metapneumovirus / Human respiratory syncytial virus / Humans / Immunoglobulin G - blood / Infections / Infectious diseases / Medical sciences / Metapneumovirus / Microbiology / Miscellaneous / Paramyxoviridae Infections - epidemiology / Paramyxoviridae Infections - immunology / Paramyxovirus / Recurrence / Reinfection / Respiratory syncytial virus / Thailand - epidemiology / Virology / Viruses