To the Editor: Acute encephalitis/encephalopathy associated with human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has been documented in children (1–3). Recently, Fok et al. (4) described an encephalitis case in an adult but were unable to test cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for HMPV. Following authors’ recommendations, we performed diagnostic testing on the CSF of an adult with HMPV-associated encephalitis. A previous...

BACKGROUND Lower respiratory tract illness is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide, however, information about the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of LRTIs caused by HMPV and HBoV in China is limited. OBJECTIVES Human bocavirus (HBoV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are two important viruses for children with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI). W...

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is an important cause of lower respiratory tract infections in hospitalized children, but the age-related incidence and effect of hMPV in unselected children in the community have not been evaluated. We studied a cohort of 1,338 children <13 years of age throughout 1 respiratory season in Finland during 2000-2001. We examined children and obtained a nasal swab for v...

BACKGROUND Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has been shown to cause respiratory infection, accounting for approximately 7% of all such disease, and contributes to the development of asthma in humans. HMPV has a worldwide distribution with infectivity rates approaching 100%, and immunocompromised patients are particularly at risk from viral exposure. No anti-HMPV vaccine is available and diagnosis i...

OBJECTIVE Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a respiratory pathogen responsible for disease and subsequent hospitalizations in young children around the world. The disease pathology, including how viral load correlates with respiratory disease severity, remains unclear. This study investigated the correlation between viral load and clinical characteristics of hMPV infections. METHODS Nasopharyng...

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV), a member of the Paramyxoviridae family, is a leading cause of lower respiratory illness. Although receptor binding is thought to initiate fusion at the plasma membrane for paramyxoviruses, the entry mechanism for HMPV is largely uncharacterized. Here we sought to determine whether HMPV initiates fusion at the plasma membrane or following internalization. To study t...

Human (HMPV) and avian (AMPV) metapneumoviruses are closely related viruses that cause respiratory tract illnesses in humans and birds, respectively. Although HMPV was first discovered in 2001, retrospective studies have shown that HMPV has been circulating in humans for at least 50 years. AMPV was first isolated in the 1970s, and can be classified into four subgroups, A-D. AMPV subgroup C is m...

This study was conducted to reexamine the hypothesis that human metapneumovirus (hMPV) will not infect turkeys. Six groups of 2-week-old turkeys (20 per group) were inoculated oculonasally with 1 of the following: noninfected cell suspension; hMPV genotype A1, A2, B1, or B2; or avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) subtype C. Poults inoculated with hMPV showed nasal discharge days 4-9 postexposure. Spec...

BACKGROUND The inpatient and outpatient burden of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) infection among young children has not been well established. METHODS We conducted prospective, population-based surveillance for acute respiratory illness or fever among inpatient and outpatient children less than 5 years of age in three U.S. counties from 2003 through 2009. Clinical and demographic data were obta...

BACKGROUND Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a significant cause of respiratory tract infections. Little is known about HMPV in children who are at high risk for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). METHODS To determine the prevalence of HMPV in high-risk children and to identify HMPV risk factors, children ≤24 months with prematurity, chronic lung disease, and/or congenital cardiac diseas...