BACKGROUND Seasonal influenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are primary causes of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) in children. New respiratory viruses including human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human bocavirus (hBoV), and influenza 2009 A(H1N1) virus have a strong impact on the pediatric population. OBJECTIVES To evaluate epidemiological and clinical features of ARTIs ...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) are two important viral pathogens that cause respiratory tract infections in the pediatric population. The rapid detection of these agents allows the prompt isolation and treatment of infected patients. In the present prospective study, we evaluated the performances of four rapid antigen detection assays, including a rapid chrom...

BACKGROUND Timely reporting of influenza A virus subtype affects patient management. Real-time PCR is a rapid and sensitive method routinely used to characterise viral nucleic acid, but the full spectral capability of the instruments is not employed. OBJECTIVES To evaluate a hexaplex real-time PCR assay (Flu-6plx assay) capable of detecting influenza A and B, hMPV, respiratory syncytial virus...

Paramyxovirus spread generally involves assembly of individual viral particles which then infect target cells. We show that infection of human bronchial airway cells with human metapneumovirus (HMPV), a recently identified paramyxovirus which causes significant respiratory disease, results in formation of intercellular extensions and extensive networks of branched cell-associated filaments. For...

New derivatives of synthetic 5,5-diphenylhydantoin (phenytoin) were prepared by N-alkylation with 1,3-dibromopropane. Subsequent treatment with sodium azide led to the respective azide. Reaction of the azide with phenylacetylene and 2-hydroxy-3-butyne and oxidation of the resulting alcohol with MnO2 resulted in three triazolic compounds that were evaluated in vitro for their antiviral activity ...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are paramyxoviruses that are responsible for substantial human health burden, particularly in children and the elderly. The fusion (F) glycoproteins are major targets of the neutralizing antibody response and studies have mapped dominant antigenic sites in F. Here we grafted a major neutralizing site of RSV F, recognized by the ...

BACKGROUND AND METHODS Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered respiratory virus associated with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, croup and exacerbations of asthma. Since respiratory viruses are frequently detected in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) it was our aim to investigate the frequency of hMPV detection in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients with AE-C...

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), first described in 2001 [1], is responsible for causing serious respiratory illness in young children, the elderly and immunocompromised patients. Four distinct lineages of hMPV have been identified with the original nomenclature for these subgroups (A1, A2, B1 and B2), reported by van den Hoogen et al. [2], utilised by many. An alternate terminology (1A, 1B, 2A an...

OBJECTIVE The role of respiratory viruses in causing severe, life threatening pneumonia in children in developing countries is not well established. Our study aims to determine the role of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children, aged 6 weeks to 2 years, hospitalized with WHO defined severe pneumonia (tachypnea plus any general danger si...

The recent description of the respiratory pathogen human metapneumovirus (hMPV) has highlighted a deficiency in current diagnostic techniques for viral agents associated with acute lower respiratory tract infections. We describe two novel approaches to the detection of viral RNA by use of reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). The PCR products were identified after capture onto a solid-phase mediu...