Studies on Viral Respiratory Infections with Bocavirus in Romania

Tobias Allander et al. (Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden) first identified the human Bocavirus (BoV) in nasopharyngeal aspirates taken from children with severe respiratory illnesses in 2001. Using a random PCR cloning sequencing approach, it was found that 17 out of 540 samples (3.1%) contained a novel DNA virus. The name Bocavirus is derived from bovine and canine, referring to the known hosts for other members of this genus: the bovine parvovirus, which infects cattle, and the minute virus of canines, which infects dogs. The virus's presence in serum, stool, and respiratory secretions suggests that it may cause systemic illness.

Bocavirus is a single-stranded DNA virus that is a member of the Parvoviridae family. The samples used in our investigation were nasopharyngeal exudates taken from 309 patients, aged 19 days to 96 years, who were hospitalized between September 2011 and September 2012 with a diagnosis of SARI (severe acute respiratory infections).

Multiplex RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) with the Seeplex 15 One-Step RV ACE Detection Kit was the diagnostic technique utilized to find human BoV. Ten of the 309 samples tested for human bocavirus were found to be positive. Children (7 months to 3.5 years old) with bronchiolitis and pneumonia without gastrointestinal symptoms provided all 10 samples. The data analysis revealed the following findings: HumanBoV is also present in Romania, meeting with young children. The percent of 3.3% is similar to that found in Sweden but lower than in Jordan (9%), China (7%) and Taiwan (5, 6%).

Patients admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with BoV had only respiratory symptoms (LRTI, lower respiratory tract infections) and no digestive symptoms.

Cases of BoV positivity were not linked to other viruses.