Evaluation of bocavirus colonization in children with asthma

Introduction: the rate of colonization of bocavirus (a newly recognized respiratory virus) was assessed in children with asthma and non-asthmatic condition due to the importance of bocavirus in preventing and exacerbating of childhood asthma. Materials and Methods: In this study, 142 samples of nasopharyngeal swabs were assessed (71 with asthma and 71 without asthma). Viral nucleic acid was extracted and the quantity of human bocavirus was evaluated by the PCR method. Results: The prevalence of bocavirus was 18.3% (26 positive samples) and 80.77% of positive samples in which the bocavirus genome was found, belonged to the asthmatic group and 19.23% belonged to the non-asthmatic group.  there was a significant association between the severity of asthma and bocavirus colonization. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there is an important association between the human buccal virus and childhood asthma. However, more epidemiological studies are needed to simultaneously assess the presence of other respiratory viruses and their role in childhood asthma